Last Kiss
by Reikajen
Summary: "'Never thought we'd have a last kiss, never imagined we'd end like this.' She placed the pen on the counter next to the paper, grabbed her bag, took a last look and left the mansion… forever?" Full drama romance Pepperony fanfic! Taking place after IM1, IM2 and Avengers.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello Everyone _

_Here we are! The first chapter of my new Story! I hope you'll like it. Thanks you to the song "Last Kiss" for inspire me for the title of this fic and also for the conclusion of this last chapter. The all story is almost all written on paper, I just have to put in on word and work a little bit on it. I need your support to help me to do it J_

_This fic take place after IM1, IM2 and Avengers. Tony just found Pepper after she was kidnaped and maltreat._

_Big Thanks to my lovely Katniss1 for reviewing this chapter! You really did a perfect job! Thanks!_

_And as usual, I don't own any of the marvel characters (unfortunately) Hope you'll like it, Please review, it'll make my day…_

**Chapter 1**

Bip, Bip, Bip

"We're losing her!"

Behind the windows of the Emergency Room, Tony pressed his hands against the glass, hoping she could hear him yelling from behind it. She couldn't leave him like this! Had he found her too late? He couldn't bear the thought. Tears rolled down his cheek as the doctors struggled to save her. When the steady pulse of the heart monitor changed to one steady tone, he fell on his knees, begging for someone, anyone, to come and save her.

XXxxxxxxXXxxx

_2 weeks later, in the living room of Malibu mansion._

"I'm sorry Pepper. Believe me, it's better this way." Tony stated in front of a shocked Pepper.

"What? How could you say that? You're not allowed to say just something like that! I love you, dammit!" She said in disbelief.

"I know, but it is too dangerous. I don't want you to die because of me. I don't want you to be hurt anymore. And if we stay together you will be hurt!"

She tried to process what he was telling to her. "Tony, please, listen to me. Don't you understand that I'd rather to be dead than live without you!?"

Anger flooded Tony; how she could say something that? "You can't say that Pepper. Try to understand. I love you too much to even imagine you dead."

"You see, you just told me. You love me!" she said fast in response to his last sentence.

"Of course I love you, why do you doubt that?"

"So where's the problem Tony? I love you, you love me! There is nothing that we can't handle if we are together," She explained to him.

"I wish that was true, Pepper, believe me. But it's NOT. Look, you almost died 2 weeks ago becau-"

She cut him off "Yes, ALMOST, that's the point, Tony! I'm not dead, I'm here, alive and well in front of you, and it's thanks to you, because YOU saved me!"

"Yeah but what if I hadn't? What if the next time I'm too late?" he gazed at his feet; he didn't want her to see the pain which was filling his eyes.

"Tony , it's a risk! Life is full of risk! What if tomorrow I have a car crash? You want me to stop driving too? You want me to stay in my bedroom without going outside? What if I just have a heart attack?" Tony shook his head. "People say that you're a genius; please try to be logical,"

"Pepper, I am being logical! That's why we have to end this. If I wasn't logical, I'd never let you go," I love you too much for that, he thought without telling her.

"So stop to be logical" she begged him. Tears appeared on her cheeks as she began to understand that he was damned serious.

"I can't Pepper… I'm so sorry"

"And what about Stark Industries? You think that we could still work together like nothing happened? It will never work Tony." She hoped, bringing up SI would make him see how stupid his reasoning was.

"I know, that's why you have to leave SI also." She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I think that Emmerson can help during the transition." She shook her head in disbelief as she processed the information. "And don't worry I'll give you the 50 years of salary you deserve, so you won't have to worry about money."

Anger started to replace pain in her "So that's it? Have you already thought about everything? You probably already planned all my life until my death, haven't you? You probably already bought the place where I'll be buried!" She yelled at him.

He raised his hands up to try to calm her "Pepper, please don't,"

"My god, I can't believe…" she started pacing the length of the room.

"It's the best solution." He tried again.

She shook her head as tears tried to escape from her eyes again. "When am I supposed to leave?"

"As soon as you are ready. I won't bother you, I'll sleep in the spare room to give you time to pack all your stuff. Take all the time that you need." He said gently.

"And what about if I never leave? If I decide to stay anyway? You'll kick me out?" she asked rudely.

"No," He answered fast. He thought for a second and added "If you want I'll let you have the mansion and I'll leave. I mean, this house is as much your home as it is mine. You're right, it is even better if I'll leave, it's fairer and you deserve this house anyway, you were there when it was only a pile of rocks,"

She covered her face with her hands, her voice coming out barely more than a whimper "I still can't believe what I'm hearing! I must be having a nightmare" At least she hoped that she was dreaming.

Finally, she composed herself enough, and gazed at him with scorn, to hide the despair. "Don't worry Tony; I'll be out of here as soon as possible. I can't bear seeing your face or staying here anymore!"

With this, she almost ran to the stairs that led to their bedroom. When she reached it, she crawled on their -no, it was just his now- bed and cried until she hadn't any tears left.

_XXXxxxXXXX_

Tony didn't show up a lot during the next week and they didn't talk to each other after their last conversation. By the end of the week, she was ready to go. She took everything from SI and sent all her possessions to her mother house in Virginia. She wanted to leave Malibu and LA. She couldn't bear to be reminded every day of him or them. She was ready to leave, her last bag next to the kitchen bench, her rented car waiting outside. And yet, she was hurting; she couldn't leave without seeing him one more time, without trying again, without at least telling him goodbye. She went to the workshop. She knew he would be there; he always was, working on this damned suit, the reason for their separation. Oh god! How much she hated Iron Man right now.

He turned to face her as he heard her heels clanging on the floor. He stared at her without saying a word. Finally she broke the silence "I'm ready," She paused, trying to find the courage to continue "I'm leaving; I just wanted to tell you good bye," He nodded barely.

She came closer to him "I still don't understand why, Tony," He tried to speak but she shushed him with her finger. "I mean, I understand your point but I still think that I should have a say in the matter. It's my life, isn't it? Why do you want to control it? I'm mature enough to know what is good for me and I can make my own choices. Didn't I take care of you before...this?" She stated, gesturing to his workshop.

"Yeah, but this choice is part of MY life too, and the fact is I don't want you in it. So even if you can choose what you want to do, you can't choose for me. I don't want to share my life with you anymore, Pepper." He said abruptly.

And with that one sentence, those eleven words, he shattered her heart. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she choked, "I don't believe you, Tony!"

She closed the distance between them and leaned her lips on his. He gazed her, not moving for the first few seconds, wishing that she would take the kiss back. Then not able to resist, he closed his eyes and kissed her hard. It was a fiery kiss, full of love and fear and sadness and anger. Both of them knew that it would be finished when they would break apart; neither of them really wanted it. Their lips finally separated when their respective lungs started to burn. He rested his forehead on hers, looking in her deep ocean blue eyes.

"Good bye, Pepper." He whispered softly after a long minute. Tears rolled on Pepper's cheek as she felt him pull away. In only few seconds, she found herself alone in the workshop.

After what seems to be hours of crying, she finally made her way up the stairs. She grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and started to write.

_"Never thought we'd have a last kiss, never imagined we'd end like this. Your name, forever the name on my lips… As our last kiss… Pepper"_

She placed the pen on the counter next to the paper, grabbed her bag, took a last look and left the mansion... Forever.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello Everyone _

_Ouaouhhhh thank you very much to all of you, you are awesome. 10 reviews for this first chapter, I really think that you deserve the chapter 2. So here we are, the chapter 2, sooner than I was supposed to publish it but all your review decide me to post it today J_

_Again, big big Thanks to my lovely Katniss1 for reviewing this chapter! You still do a perfect job! Thanks!_

_And as usual, I don't own any of the marvel characters (unfortunately) Hope you'll like it, Please review, it'll make my day and it bring you the next chapter faster ^^_

**Chapter 2:**

_5 years later,_

Tony had been driving for multiple days when he reached a welcome sign with a red bird. Around 36 hours ago, he had left the mansion on the fly. He didn't remember if he had really thought about it or tried to plan it. He had just jumped in his car and drove fast dead east, trying not to think too much about what he was doing, because if he thought about it, he would probably make a U-turn.

After another hour, he eventually made his way to a two-story house surrounded by corn fields. He parked his car a fair distance from the house, just to be safe. He got out of his car with a stretch; he had driven all the way from Malibu, stopping only for gas. He looked tired, his cheeks had grown gaunt, his goatee wasn't in shape anymore, his hair was messy and his back was painful. His sunglasses helped his tired, red eyes to stand the afternoon sun of Virginia. He adjusted his dark blue tee-shirt, spotting a grease stain on his pants. "_I should change before leaving,_" he thought. He patted his arc reactor, trying to find the courage to walk to the front door.

As he was walking, he took a closer look to the house. It hadn't changed much since the last time he had seen it. It was a typical American house, perfect stereotype of the classic Virginian farmhouse, barn on the right side, a small mail box in middle of nowhere, a hipped roof and many square columns supporting front porch and cornice trim.

When he finally reached the porch, he froze. Was he here? Was he really here? It seemed like unreal! He started second guessing himself, wondering if this was a good idea. In fact, he knew it was definitely not a good idea, but now he was here. He removed his sunglasses, closed his eyes, took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

The door opened but he couldn't see anybody at his size. His eyes eventually dropped on a young boy who was grinning. "Hello," He said in a soft voice.

Tony smiled at him gently but it quickly faded from his face as his eyes locked upon the kid's. Deep ocean blue eyes. He had seen this shade of blue in only one pair of eyes before … His heart sped up and his knees went weak. His thoughts were suddenly cut by woman voice on the background.

"How many times have I told you, Dane? Don't open the door for strangers!"

"Sorry grandma, but you were in the kitchen, I thought I could answer before you came." The boy explained turning his head toward his grandmother approaching.

The woman was now coming up beside the little boy, and was drying her hand with a napkin as she gave a look to see who was there. She stopped, shock in her eyes. She gaze slowly drifted to Dane.

"Dane, sweetheart, go play in your room dear."

"But Grandma, I'd rather…" he tried to argue.

"Dane, what did we just say about talking back?" his grandmother reminded him.

"Fine, I'm going." he finally conceded, clearly disappointed. He gave a final look to Tony as he reached the stairs.

When she was sure that the boy had left, she turned again toward the visitor and said "Tony?"

"Hello Mrs. Potts," Pepper's mother was a beautiful woman for her age. Her hair had turned grey but used to be a nice shade of red. Her eyes were blue, not exactly like Pepper's, but still expressive, and the expression that Tony was reading at this moment in her eyes was not a welcoming one.

"What are you doing here? " She asked rudely.

"I just came for…" He started.

She cut him off, "For what Tony?" She stared into his eyes "You can't come 'just for' anymore! You lost that privilege 5 years ago!" She stated harshly.

"I know, I don't want… I mean, I want to… I really want to…" He was mumbling. "I guess I made a mistake" he eventually said.

"A mistake? Is it what you'd call it?" she shook her head, anger in her voice. "A mistake." she repeated in disbelief.

"I know, I don't mean…" He tried to explain.

She cut him off sharply. "You destroyed her Tony! You know that? You can't imagine against what she went through!" She said brutally.

Tony stared at his feet as he felt Pepper's mum words overwhelming him.

"She was in love with you! Oh god, so in love! She trusted you even, if I never really understood why!" Tony felt his own heart crack at these works. "I warned her 100 times about you, but every time she told me that you were a good guy and that you would never hurt her. And do you know what's funny?" She asked him, pausing for a time as he looked at her. "I tried to believe her, and I even started to appreciate you! And what for? You did the worst thing that you could do to her: You left her without a good reason!" She almost yelled.

Tony tensed at her last sentence "I had a good reason! You have no idea what you're talking about lady! You can blame me for a lot of things, but you can't blame me for trying to protect her! It was too damn dangerous to stay with me, to be anywhere nears all this crazy Iron man shit!" He tried to hold back his tears as anger and pain began to overwhelm him "You know well what happened Mrs. Potts, you know that they raped her and that she almost died! I didn't want that happen again! I'd rather be alone knowing that she is happy somewhere else, maybe with someone else, than alone knowing that she died because of me!" He closed his eyes. She saw the few tears that rolled down to his cheek before he swiped them quickly away with his left hand. Tony was not a crying kind of guy and she was wondering if the tiredness was betrayed him. "You can't blame me for that."

"But It wasn't fair to choose for her Tony!" Her tone wasn't softer; tears or not, she was not prepared to be nice with this man.

Tony answered fast "You don't understand. I had to do it. If I didn't make the decision, she would never leave, never be safe. You have no idea what I went through not to go back on my decision. I've wanted to come 1000 times the last 5 years!"

"So that bring's me back to the question: What are you doing here TODAY Tony?" she said flatly.

"I don't know really…" he paused for some seconds and then added "In the last week, it become... unbearable!"

"So 5 years is the most Anthony Stark could put up with?" Anger came back harder in her voice.

"Please," he begged "you can't imagine, you can't possibly imagine..."

"So why now Tony?" she asked again.

"I feel like I need it" He guessed.

"And did you think for one second about Virginia? Did you think about what SHE needs? Did you even think of what she will feel seeing you after 5 years? Do you think that she needs you to come and break into her life after 5 years, like you own it?" Anger was growing in her voice with every word.

"You know, believe it or not I did. I think I just came because I wanted to know if she is happy. I mean, _I_ am so, so unhappy; I just wanted to make sure that she has moved on and that she is happy now, and to be sure that I made the right decision for both of us." He stated.

"Oh, I see!" she snapped, she shook her head in disbelief, almost laughing at the situation. "You just want to ease your conscience! That is so selfish! I mean it is so _you_, Tony!" Tony was astonished, out of words. "You are sad so you just want to see if Virginia is the same. And what is your plan? I'm curious, tell me! What if she is sad, and still thinking of you? What are you going to do? You'll tell her that it's shame, and then leave her again, won't you? Because you're still Iron Man, aren't you? So she will not be safer with you now than 5 years ago, am I right?"

"I didn't really think about that…" he mumbled.

"I know you didn't. As I said, selfish, as usual. And now let's say that she is happy, and she's made a new life here. Will you come in and send it all crashing down? She spent 15 long years with you Tony. She gave all she had to you. She helped you through everything, at any time; she suffered all your caprices. She sacrificed a big part of her life for you Tony! Do you think that seeing you today will not touch her even if she has another life now?" blunt sincerity flowed through all her words.

Tony was completely lost. He hadn't thought about any of this before coming here. He had just followed an intuition. "You're right" he finally conceded when the logic in her words hit him. He was a completely idiotic, selfish guy as usual. "I guess I made a big mistake coming here."

"Oh yes, you did Tony Stark. She doesn't need you anymore. She has her own life here now, without you!" She said abruptly. He nodded. "She has someone else in her life Tony; don't come and ruin everything, please." She finished, her tone a mix or scorn and requesting.

Pain seemed to course through his body, and he didn't know how he was still standing up. He tried to put himself together. "Yes, I understand, I'll leave. But please, before I go, I just need you to answer one question." He asked.

She took her time before answering. She knew or more exactly she was predicting what question he would ask. "Which one?"

"Is he her son?" he asked so much pain in his eyes. He needed to know, even if he was guessing already the answer, he needed to be sure.

"Yes, he is…" she answered, closing her eyes. Despite the contempt she felt for this man, she was not cruel, and did not wish to see any more pain in his eyes.

Tony's heart broke into thousand pieces. Why had he thought that a girl like her would stay alone forever? She was so fantastic, and it was logical that someone else had figured this out too. And this guy gave her the stability, the time, the comfort, that she wanted - everything that he could never give her. It was only fair to her.

"I guess I have my answer." He stated, she nodded. "Thank you Mrs. Potts, and I'm sorry for this interruption, it will never happen again, I promise." His eyes were full of tears when he turned, and she saw it. Even if she thought and meant everything she had said, it was tough to see him like that; he looked devastated, weariness not helping, no longer the Tony Stark she had known. He was a ghost of himself. It had made him more human and less evil. But past was past, and Pepper didn't need that today.

Halfway down the walkway, he paused and turned back, saying, "Oh and please, don't tell her that I came."

"Don't worry, I won't, trust me." She retorted.

He nodded and continued to his car, only allowing tears to stream down his cheeks as the door closed behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello Everyone _

_Thank you very much again to all my reviewers, you are really really awesome. I'm so glad that you like the story. It means a lot for me and gives me all the courage to write until midnight every day to give you chapters as soon as possible. I try my best to show you the emotions that are overwhelming this fic and I hope you can feel them. Anyway, stop chatting and go reading ^^_

_Before again, big big Thanks to my lovely Katniss1 for reviewing this chapter! You still do a perfect job! Thanks!_

_And as usual, I don't own any of the marvel characters (unfortunately) Hope you'll like it, Please review, it'll make my day and it bring you the next chapter faster ^^_

**Chapter 3:**

Tony was a zombie as he walked toward his car. For the first in his life, the great Anthony Edward Stark found it difficult to process all that had happened. He didn't know if it was because of the exhaustion or because of the tsunami of emotions. He was experiencing a different kind of pain, a new kind. When he had come here, he hadn't expected anything, but he hadn't imagined seeing someone there to hold her and take her away from him. Pepper's mum was right; he had let her down, and was the only one responsible for this situation! What could she do? She couldn't wait for him all her life, especially considering the manner of her dismissal. She deserved to be happy even if it was without him and if it was hurting him like hell.

"Hey!" His thoughts were cut off by a small voice to his right. He turned his head and spotted Pepper's son leaning on the door-frame of the barn. "Why are you crying?" He asked.

Tony eventually cracked a smile to the kid "Hey there. I'm not crying, I'm just tired" He put back his sunglasses on his nose, "and the sun is really bright here."

"If you say so" Dane replied doubtfully, scanning Tony from head to toe.

Tony took a better look the boy. He was quite young but seemed mature for his age. He was wearing a grey striped tee shirt under blue jean overalls. He had dark hair, and those wonderful blue eyes. Tony's heart broke again as they reminded him that it was Pepper's son, the son she had with another man. He shook his head to clear his mind.

"Ok Kiddo, I have to go, but it was nice to meet you." He said continuing on his way to the car.

"Wait!" He called after him, "You're Iron man, aren't you?"

Tony stopped and looked back at the boy "Yes, I am Iron Man," he grinned and added "Do you want an autograph or something?"

"No, thanks," Dane answered abruptly, yet politely. Tony was surprised by his answer; it was the first time that he heard a little boy refusing something from Iron Man. "It's not that I don't like you, I mean, in fact, I like a lot of things about Iron Man and his technology and I wonder how the arc reactor works and everything but mummy doesn't like you at all and she gets upset or even cries sometimes when I talk about Iron man. So, I have to hate you." The boy explained.

If Tony was in a less emotionally compromised state, he would probably have been impressed by the intelligence of this little boy, talking about arc reactor technology and not about 'superpowers' as most children did. But, he wasn't in his normal state of mind - he only heard the last part. Pepper was crying because of him… "What do you mean?" He asked in disbelief.

"I love mum so much, and if she's crying because of you, you've gotta be a bad guy!" stated the boy.

"I guess that's true." answered Tony. Dane was right, he was a bad guy! He needed to get out of her life, and stay out.

"What did you do to her?" Dane asked him.

"Don't worry about that kiddo. I'm leaving and never coming back. You and your mom don't ever have to see me again." He told him.

"So why did you came here in the first place?" Dane asked.

Damn, Pepper had passed down her logic to her son. She had always found the flaw in Tony's own. "I don't really know…" he said.

"Did you come to apologize?" asked the little boy.

As sad as Tony was, this question made him smile. "Yeah, probably, but it is too late; I should have come earlier." Tony stated sadly.

"How do you know? You didn't talk to mummy," Tony closed his eyes; it was too complicated to explain to this little guy "I'm sad that mummy doesn't like you because if she did, I could ask you for help," Dane said, visibly upset, "I'm sure that the creator of Iron Man could solve my problem." He added.

Tony was intrigued. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"I'm working on the old motorcycle that I found here - grandma told me one day that it belonged to my grandfather," The little boy explained. "Mummy didn't like it at first, but she eventually let me do it if I promised to be careful," Tony was listening Dane, amazed "Come on, I'll show you!" Dane said as he grabbed Tony's hand and pulled him inside the barn "That's my workshop," The little boy said, proudly showing the space with his hand.

Tony cracked a smile at the name of the Kid's space. Workshop… He removed his sunglasses and took a look inside the barn. It didn't look like his own workshop, but nevertheless, it looked perfect. He quickly spotted the bike in the background; it was an old rusty Indian 440. He followed Dane next to a table where the engine was dismantled, in the midst of screwdriver and other tools. "Ok, here we are," began Dane "You see that connecting rod?" he asked, pointing to the item with his finger. Tony nodded. "Well, I replaced it with this one, but the thing is that it doesn't give proper rotating movement to the piston. So I was thinking…" The boy stopped as he saw Tony with a far-away look in his eyes, not really listening. "Are you ok?" he asked.

Tony was frozen; this was too hard for him. He couldn't speak and do thing with Pepper's son as if everything was normal. He didn't have the right to do that. "I'm sorry kid, I can't help you." Sadness appeared on Dane face. "I mean, I'm not supposed to be here, I'm not sure your mother, your grandmother or even your father will be happy if they find me here."

"But mummy's at work, grandma's in the kitchen cooking, and I don't have a dad. So it's ok, you can help me. It won't take long." Dane argued, almost begging.

"You don't have a dad?" Tony repeated in disbelief.

"No, I don't," confirmed the little boy.

"Everyone has a father, kiddo." Tony stated.

"I have a father, I don't have a dad. He left us." Dane said sadly.

Tony felt a flare of something like anger. Why would this guy leave Pepper? She was a beautiful, smart, and astonishing woman; no one could let her down like that! He knew he had done so, but that had been different - it had been for her safety! And there hadn't been a child involved! The boy was so smart, so sweet, so special. "Why?" he asked.

"I don't know - he left before I was born, and when I asked mummy, she cried every time, so I stopped. I don't like to see her crying." Dane explained calmly.

"_Son of a ***!"_ Tony thought. This guy was a weak coward to leave Pepper when she was pregnant. He understood Dane; he didn't like the idea that this guy had made Pepper cry. And if he knew who this bastard was, he would show him what he deserved! Anger was now racing through his body. Pepper was so damned worthy. For what good reason could he have left her?! There wasn't any reason in the whole world to let her down! No, no one! He realized that now! And it was not only about Pepper but also about this little man - how could you not love him? He was so outlandish, maybe no more than 4 years old and yet already so smart… and… and… and… "_No…_" was the first word that appeared in his head! _"Impossible_" was the second one. Then, his eyes locked in Dane's, and time stopped as everything seemed to click in his mind. He froze. His heart stopped beating, his eyes stayed widely opened, his mouth gasped, his muscles completely stiff, and his hand clammy; he didn't breath anymore, his lungs started to burn… It seemed like the ground gave way under his feet.

"Tony?" Dane's worried voice woke him from his drowsiness.

He blinked and stared again at the little black haired man. He opened his mouth, but words got stuck in his throat. After a while, he whispered: "How… How old are you?"

"4 and a half" He said proudly "I'm little short for my age, I know, but mummy say that I'll be big, strong and handsome when I'm older." He said smiling.

Tony's heart jumped through his chest. He was called a genius, and yet it had taken him this long to figure it out! Everything was in front of him since the beginning and he hadn't seen it! He took so long to figure out what was obvious. He couldn't believe it! He was so selfish! It was so him! He had a son, and he didn't even know! He had let Pepper down when she was pregnant, he had done to her the worst thing that you could do to someone, and in this second, in this barn, he hated himself so much that it hurt. His knees went weak - he was almost shivering.

"Hey Tony, Are you alright? Dane asked, worried, Tony looked at him. "You look sick," he added "maybe I should call grandma,"

Tony fell on his knee, overwhelmed. "No, it's ok, I'll be ok. Don't worry… euh … what's your name again?"

The boy grinned "My name is Dane. Dane Anthony Potts."

If he needed more proof, he just got it. "Dane," Tony repeated slowly.

"Yes," Dane said scanning Tony. "You definitely look sick; I'll go to call grandma." Dane said starting to move.

Tony grabbed him. "No, it is ok, I'll be ok Dane, don't worry." Tony cracked a smile and added "So, what's wrong with this piston - show me."

"Are you sure?" Dane exclaimed, excited.

"I've never been so sure of anything else, in my life." Tony answered, smiling at Dane.


	4. Chapter 4

_Hello Everyone _

_I don't know what to say to you, your reviews are gold for me! It gives so much happiness. So really a big thank you! Are you ready for the new chapter? Here we are for Pepper's entrance…_

_As always big big Thanks to my lovely Katniss1 for reviewing this chapter! You still do a perfect job! Thanks!_

_And as usual, I don't own any of the marvel characters (unfortunately) Hope you'll like it, Please review, it'll make my day and it bring you the next chapter faster ^^ I know that it took time to me for this one but I wrote this one and the one after in one shot, so it took me a little a bit more time :)_

**Chapter 4:**

Virginia Potts was working in her office. It was already late in the afternoon when she closed her last files of the day. After working as a CEO of Stark industries for so long, and being the right hand man, or more exactly woman, a small start-up business was a piece of cake for her. She worked hard as usual, and the company was growing, along with her devotion. The only thing that had changed in Virginia's life was her schedule. Since Dane's birth, she had forced herself to go home at a reasonable hour of the afternoon to spend some time with him. Then, after he had gone to bed, she would get back to work from her computer at home. After her departure from LA, she had gone to her mother's house, yet when she had figured out that she was pregnant she had stayed there. Her mum was retired and it was convenient for everyone involved.

She stretched her arms, and smiled as her gaze landed on the picture frame on her desk. It was a picture of her and Dane, taken during their last Christmas. He had begged so much for this 'Build-Your-Own Electric Car', and had been so disappointed when it had taken him only one day to build it. He was so smart, she thought. _Like his father_… She shook her head at this thought; she refused to think about him, because every time she did it ended in an endless crying session. So instead, she grabbed her bag, dumped the document she was working with inside, and left her office.

After 30 minutes of driving, she arrived at home; she quickly spotted a car that was not supposed to be here. She parked her black Tesla model S next to what seemed to be a brand new Audi. She scanned the car, trying to figure out who it belonged to. At first, she simply thought that it might be a solicitor or census person or whatever; she didn't even imagine what she was about to discover. She was walking through the doorway when she heard laughter from the barn. She grinned at the sound of Dane's giggles. She loved hear him like that, it was the reason she lived. Her smile faded slowly, however, when she detected another voice coming from there.

"No, Dane, stop, it will…" A loud sound came from the barn, followed by burst out laughing. "I told you; don't remove that screw." The voice added between laughs.

The voice echoed in her head. She knew all too well to whom it belonged. Her heart sped up as she strode to the barn door. Then, as she caught sight of the scene within, she froze! Dane was there, kneeling down in front of the bike, back to her, a screwdriver in his hand. Next to him, a black haired man, back to her also, was staring at him, smile on his face. This smile, this face, this man, him! Everything seemed to occur in slow motion. The man took Dane in his arm, rubbing his hair, Dane was laughing. "You are a screwdriver genius, kiddo!" He said laughing too…

How was possible? How was happening? Her eyes opened wide, her heart exploding in her chest! If everything was different she would be the happiest woman in the world, as it was a perfect picture, a perfect moment in collusion between father and son. But it was not. What was he doing here? He didn't have any right to be here! Anger surged through her body, drying all tears that had been threatening to fall.

"I'm not, look, the gimbal felt," Dane said, a little disappointed.

Tony hugged him, pressing his head on his shoulder, "Don't worry, it's easy to fix…"

He was cut off by Dane, who spotted Pepper over Tony's shoulder "Mommy! You're home!" The little man freed himself from Tony's embrace and ran towards his mother.

Tony froze at Dane's words, and though he felt Dane pulling away, he didn't move, transfixed on his spot, unable to move. Then, he heard her voice, her gentle and beautiful voice.

"Yeah, I'm here sweetheart," she said kneeling down to catch Dane in her arms. She stood up, holding him in her arms and kissing him on his cheek. "How is my little boy doing?" she asked him.

Tony closed his eyes; it was so wonderful to hear her voice, yet so painful at the same time. "I'm good, very good! I fixed the problem with rotor thanks to Tony and we made a lot of progress on the bike." Dane exclaimed. The smile on Pepper's face faded when she heard Tony's name. It was not a surprise; she had already known that this man, knee down, back to her, was Tony Stark, but the confirmation was like a smack. Then, Dane added "Tony told me that he'll help me to repaint it also. We'll paint it in… What is the name of the color again?" he asked to Tony.

Tony felt his heart speed up in his chest; he stood up and turned slowly to face them. Pepper looked at him as he turned. His gaze was down and went gradually up from her high black heels to her deep ocean blue eyes. When his chocolate brown eyes locked in hers, she felt his stare run through her body. Breathing started to become difficult.

"Hot-rod red…" he whispered.

"Yeah, hot-rod red!" Dane repeated, thrilled, turning his gaze to his mother. His smiled washed-out when he saw his mother, eyes wide, staring at Tony. He looked at Tony, who was immobile on the other side of the barn. He was so excited about the events of the afternoon that he forgot briefly that his mother didn't like him. The silence was heavy even for the young boy.

Dane stared at his mother again. She was white, transfixed on her spot, and Dane could almost feel her shivering. "Mommy? Are you okay?" he asked slowly, almost scared about her reaction.

Time had stopped for Pepper; it was like everything was unreal, like she was dreaming. She couldn't feel her body anymore; it was like she was floating on the air. Suddenly, Dane's voice made her jerk back to the world again. She shook her head, ending the eye contact with Tony and then looked at Dane.

She hugged him hard, stroking his hair. "I'm okay honey," she whispered, kissing him on his cheek, "I'm okay…" she repeated again.

Tony watched the scene in silence. If everything was different, he would have hugged them. It was so painful; he could feel Pepper's distress through his entire body.

Pepper's hand was pressing on Dane's back to pull him closer. Her eyes were closed; her chin rested on his shoulder. Dane was hugging her with his petite hands, wrapping his arms around her neck. She could stay like that forever, with Dane against her, she felt good. After what seemed to be many minutes, she opened her eyes again. Tony was still in the same spot. He hadn't move. His gaze was soft and imploring, the gaze she gave back to him was dark and full of hate.

"Dane, sweetheart," she started, pulling Dane a little away from her "Can you be nice and go see grandma," she said putting him on the floor "I need to talk with Tony", she concluded.

Dane nodded slowly, then turned to look at Tony. "Thank you Tony," he said giving a faint smile.

Tony tried to return the smile as much as he could. "Anytime, buddy."

Dane looked at her mother. "I'm sorry mommy. Hope you're not mad at me" he said sadly.

Pepper looked at him in disbelief. "Mad at you? Why?"

Dane gave a look at Tony, then at his mother again. "Because I talked to Tony, and I know you don't like him, but try ... he is not so bad." Dane said.

Pepper smiled at Dane. "Okay, sweetheart, now go see grandma."

"Okay", he said smiling proudly, sure his mother would talk to Tony and probably like him by the end. "I'll see you Tony!" he exclaimed before running out the barn.

The smile faded on Pepper's face the second Dane left the barn. She waited to hear the door of the house opened and closed before staring harshly at Tony.

"Don't use my son to reach me!" she almost yelled.


	5. Chapter 5

_Hello Everyone _

_Here we are for the chapter 5, thank you again for your kind review; you can't imagine what it means to me._

_Big big Thanks to my lovely Katniss1 for reviewing this chapter! You still do a perfect job! Thanks!_

_And as usual, I don't own any of the marvel characters (unfortunately) Hope you'll like it, Please review, it'll make my day and it bring you the next chapter faster ^^_

**Previously on "Last Kiss"**

The smile faded on Pepper's face the second Dane left the barn. She waited to hear the door of the house opened and closed before staring harshly at Tony.

"Don't use my son to reach me!" she almost yelled.

**And now the conclusion...**

**Chapter 5:**

"I didn't… I mean, I didn't say anything to him, I swear…" Tony explained.

She cut his words off hard. "You swear?" an incredulous laugh escaped from her, "Do you know what yours promises mean to me?" she snarled.

Tony could feel his blood freeze in his veins. Her tone was so sharp; it was the first time he heard this in her voice usually so sweet and so kind.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"You're sorry?" she repeated in disbelief. "You're **_sorry_**?" she shook her head "It must be the end of the world!" she exclaimed wryly, "The great Tony Stark is sorry!"

He opened his mouth to reply but the words stuck in his throat.

After ten longs seconds of silence, she sighed heavily and asked, "What are you doing here?"

He didn't know how to answer. Her gaze was so cold that it was unbearable; he looked at his feet, still silent, without an answer.

"What the hell are you doing here, **_Tony_**?!" she repeated, shouting.

His eyes automatically went back to hers at her cry. They were full of anger and sadness. "I don't know," he started, "I'm not sure," he continued, "I was working in the workshop, thinking about you, reading again and again that note, the one you left for me that day. Then, I found myself in front of your door." He paused, looking for the right words, "I guess I just wanted to know how you were." He concluded.

"You wanted to know how I was?" she repeated in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? You wanted to know how I am after **_5 years?_**" She asked.

Tony felt emotion well up inside him again. "I'm sorry Pepper, I'm really sorry," his voice was shaking.

"My name is **_Virginia_**!" she burst out, "Don't ever call me Pepper again. Pepper is dead! She died 5 years ago!" she said harshly.

"Don't do that, please," he begged her, tears filling his eyes.

"Don't do what?!" she exploded. "You made the decision; you and you alone killed Pepper!" She looked him in the eyes, "You threw me away, Tony," Her jaw was almost trembling. "You ejected me from my house, from my job, from my friends… You took everything I had away from me… You ruined my life!" Blunt distress flowed through all her words. "What did you seriously expect coming here, today, Tony?" She asked.

"It didn't happen like that at all, and you know it… I did it for you safety, you were…" he started to claim.

She cut him fast "Oh **_please_**! Spare me this stupidity! None of that was for me; it was for **_you_**, Stark! As always! Everything you do or ever did always was for you! You didn't leave me for my safety, but because I was the only flaw in your nice Iron Man suit!"

"**_Pepper_**!" Tony exclaimed, hurt.

"No! Tony, listen to me! I tried to understand you, believe me, but every time I came to the same conclusion; it was not fair. You didn't have the right to make that decision alone! You ruled my life without asking my permission. It involved us both, but you were the only one to decide!" she paused, closing her eyes, in order to control the emotion threatening to overwhelm her. "And I pointed this out to you, that day, Tony. And do you remember what you told me?" she asked him, her blues eyes locked on his, her jaw was trembling; "You told me that you didn't want to share your life with me anymore." She said sadly, feeling those words shattering her heart again as they had five years ago.

"You know that I didn't mean it," he pleaded tears rolling on his cheeks. "I was tried to get you to leave!" he said slowly.

"But I didn't want to leave you Tony!" She blew up, tears filling her eyes. "I stayed beside you all over those years. I took care of you; I never stopped to taking care of you, despite everything. Despite alcohol, drugs and a thousand one night girls, despite yours whims, your bad will for everything, and your lack of care, and even despite yours innuendos. I never walked out on you Tony. How could you imagine that after being in love with you it would change? Because, **_yes_** I was in love with you Tony, so madly in love." Tears escaped her eyes. "And you know well that I did everything to avoid this. I held back my feelings for you a long time because I was afraid of being hurt. Then, you swore and you made me believe in it. You promised me that we would be happy together, that you had changed and you loved me! And I believed you…"

"But I do love you Pepper!" he begged, all his body shaking.

"Yes, you love me, but you love Iron Man more, and your self most of all, your self and your self-image." She stated gravely. "It never mattered to me to risk my life everyday by your side. I knew the danger when I started dating you; I knew that I was dating Iron Man and everything that went with it. But **_you_** decided otherwise. And not because it would be good for me but only because it was easier for **_you_** being Iron Man without me bothering you!" Anger came back in her voice.

Tony felt his knees went weak, "Pepper, don't…"

She quickly cut him off "You know what Tony? When I left the mansion that day, I truly thought that you would come back to me," she swallowed her tears. "That I would be something you missed," she added, hands shaking. "That you would love me more than this stupid Iron Man!" she finally blew up. "But you never came back," She said sadly gazing at her feet to not let him see her tears.

"But I'm here now," he said, trying to move toward her.

She gazed at him at this sentence. Her eyes were so dark and full of rage that he froze. "You're kidding me?! Right?!" she said wryly, "5 years Tony, 5 long and painful years!" she highlighted, "During 5 years, I loved you, I wanted you to come back, I hoped you would come back, I cried for you! Oh yes, I cried! But now it is over, I won't shed any tears for you anymore!"

"Please Pepper, you're being unfair,"

"I'm unfair?" She repeated in disbelief, "That's definitely the best one of the day!"

"I mean…" He tried.

"I don't give a shit about what you mean Tony! I just want you leave this house right now! I want you to get out of my life forever!" she shouted at him.

He fell to his knees, overwhelmed, tears rolling down his face. He gazed at her, imploring, "But Pepper, you… I mean… You know, He…"

She cut him off fast when she figured out where he wanted to go with this "He is **_my_** son! Do you understand? **_My son_**! You don't have any right to Dane's life!" she stated abruptly. "Now, go away, I can't bear to look at you anymore." She concluded.

Tony cried like a baby, like he couldn't remember ever having cried before. He was so desperate, gazing at the floor, as the tears fell onto it.

Pepper looked at him, looked at this ghost of him and stated sarcastically "Poor Tony, poor great Iron Man!"

He looked at her eyes, his hand held out to her, begging forgiveness. She stared at him proudly, almost scornful.

She turned her heels, ready to leave and told him "And _**that**_ will be all Mister Stark!"

On that note, she left the barn with her head held high.


	6. Chapter 6

_Hello Everyone _

_Here we are for the chapter 6, thank you again for all your kind review :) Sorry for the time that it took to post this chapter but it was not under my control. I'm really happy, we almost reach 100 review. It means a lot for me. I hope we'll reach them with this chapter._

_My dear Katniss1 is little busy those days so MyCedarChest helped me for reviewing this chapter! Thank you very much you did a perfect job._

_And as usual, I don't own any of the marvel characters (unfortunately) Hope you'll like it, Please review, it'll make my day and it bring you the next chapter faster ^^_

**Chapter 6:**

Pepper came back in the house feeling completely shell shocked, still wondering if everything that was happening was real or if somehow she was dreaming. Her mother walked quickly out of the kitchen reinforcing the notion that this was indeed really happening.

"Ginny, here you are…" her mother came close to her, "How are you sweetheart?" Her mother asked, hugging her.

She pulled away slowly, "I'm ok mom," she answered, taking a look into the living room, "Do you know where Dane is?"

"Yes, he's in his room upstairs," Pepper started to walk to the staircase "Ginny, I'm sorry..." Her mother said sadly behind her.

Pepper turned to face her, "What for?" she asked

"I asked him to leave you know," she stated "I didn't leave him with Dane, I swear. I thought he left and Dane was playing upstairs. I wasn't vigilant enough" she added, shaking her head.

Pepper sighed "I know… Don't worry… It's not your fault. I suppose that it had to happen one day. I mean, he is his son, he probably deserves to know,"

Her mother cut her "But he left you - I don't think he deserves anything, actually."

"Mom, please, don't do that," she begged.

"Don't do what Ginny? Why you are always defending him? What did he tell you in there? Don't tell me that you've fallen into his trap again!" she chided firmly.

"No!" She hastily replied, "and anyway, it's none of your business, mom!"

"You can't tell me that, I've been taking care of you and Dane for 5 years. I tried to fix you when he broke you. I helped you raise Dane alone, to build you a new life here, I should think I can have a word to say in the story!" Her mother snapped.

Pepper felt suddenly remorseful at her mother's words, "Yeah, I know mom… I'm sorry…. It's just that I'm little confused with my feelings right now. I need time to process everything," she said tears in her eyes.

Her mother came closer and hugged her "I know sweetheart, I didn't mean to be mean. I just want to protect you; I don't want you to suffer again. And now it's not just you, but Dane too."

At her mother words, she cried for the first time today; her tears were now falling quickly and heavily onto her mother's shoulder. She allowed all her sadness and frustration to come out all at once, crying like a baby in her mother embrace.

After few minutes, she pulled herself together and stared at her mother, her eyes red, "I know mom, I know... That's why I asked him to leave; I don't want Dane to go through what I did. I don't want him to enter into his life and then leave as soon as a problem appeared. So, I asked him to get out of our life." She stated sadly, "but it was so hard..." She sobbed, resting her head on her mother shoulder.

Her mother rubbed her back with one hand, pressing the other on Pepper's head to adjust her on her shoulder, "sssshhh, it's ok… Shhhh… Everything will be alright… Shhhh..." She reassured her.

But Pepper quickly raised her head and looked at her "It won't be alright! It can't be alright mom. The man that I love and who is the father of my son is the biggest jerk in the world... I don't how you could even imagine that it would be alright!"

Her mother closed her eyes at this statement. Despite everything, she knew that her daughter was still in love with this man. She knew it and there was nothing she could do to change it.

"Anyway mom, don't worry about that. I'll figure it out… Now I have to see Dane, I have to talk to him. You know how he is," she said wiping the tears from her eyes.

Her mom nodded, and started to walk to the kitchen, saying "Dinner is almost ready, you and Dane can come eat when you want,"

"Okay," she said, already climbing the stairs. After few seconds, she reached Dane's room. The door was closed. She knocked on it softly and opened it slowly. She spotted him lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. "Hey there," she said gently.

He looked at her but didn't move. He had a worried look on his face. "Hey," he answered quietly.

She came closer and sat on the edge of his bed, next to him, "Are you already sleeping? It would be the first time that I didn't have to fight to put you in bed." She tried to joke.

He cracked a smile, "No, we didn't even eat yet," he answered.

Pepper quickly jumped on his bed and started to tickle him "Yeah, my little stomach on legs would never go to bed without eating." She teased him as he started to laugh under her touch.

After few minutes of playing, she moved to lie on the bed cuddling him, stroking his hair, as he hugged her. They stayed like that a few minutes before Dane broke the silence, "Will I get to see Tony again?" he asked, his head still on his mother's chest.

Pepper's heart started to beat fast, she had known that this conversation would come up sooner or later, "Do you want to see him again?" she asked him kindly.

He raised his head to look at her, "If it makes you cry then no I don't want to see him again," he said, his eyes full of love and compassion.

Her jaw started to tremble; she closed her eyes as she felt her tears coming and hugged him hard pressing his head on to her chest, "Oh, my sweet baby… I love you so much," she said her voice full of emotion, kissing the top of his head.

"I love you too, mommy." He said wrapping his arms around her neck.

She tried to compose herself; she didn't want to fall apart in front of him. She was the mother and she was supposed to be the strong one, even if sometimes he was much stronger than her. She sat up on the edge of the bed, still holding Dane in her arms. She positioned him on her lap and looked at him.

"I know that you love me baby," she started tenderly brushing a lock of hair back from his forehead. "But, **_you_**, what do you think about him? Do you want to see him again?" she asked carefully.

Dane looked her in the eyes, trying to be sure if he could really say what he thought, trying to be sure that she would not be mad at him if he said the truth, "I like him," he said, as he watched her face intently noting any change in his mother's mood, then he continued, "I mean… He was nice and we had a lot fun trying to fix Granddad's motorcycle. And he knows a lot about mechanics. And, you know, he promised me that he will help me paint it and that he will even bring the paint." he paused, looking carefully at his mother, before concluding, "So, I'd like to see him again, yes."

Somehow she already knew the answer before asking him. Through Dane's eyes Tony was the smartest person in the world and rightly so. But she was still seeing him like the jerk who had thrown her away.

She knew that if she searched her heart deeply, she knew also that Tony could be a good person, that she had and probably still loved him, and it was for a good reason. Her biggest concern was that she didn't want Dane to be hurt or disappointed because of him. Her thoughts were now tumbling in her head, not helping her to know what the best decision was, or even if there was any best decision.

She smiled gently at him, stroking his hair, "I understand, sweetheart. I don't know yet if you'll see him again but I promise you that I'll think about it." His eyes were full of sadness; she hit gently his nose with her finger "Okay?" He nodded, trying to smile. "Now, what do you think about taking your bath before dinner?" she teased him, tickling his stomach. He laughed and she stood up, carrying him to the bathroom.

The diner passed quickly but in a somewhat awkward atmosphere. Pepper's mother tried to make small talk but Pepper was too preoccupied to even pretend to listen to her mother. Then, bed time came for Dane and Pepper found herself alone in the living room. She was curled in the coach, her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. All that happened during the past few hours was running through her mind. Why was it that something that could be so simple had to be so damned complicated! Her thoughts were cut short by her mother voice.

"Hey sweetie, what are you doing?" asked her mother sitting on the armchair in front of her.

"I'm just thinking," she answered casually.

"You did the right thing," she tried to comfort her.

"How could you know that?" she asked to her mother. "One day, Dane will ask for his father and when I'll tell him who he is, he will hold it against me! He will know that I prevented him from knowing his father sooner." She stated sadly.

"Are you sure that you question yourself only about Dane?" her mother asked her.

She sighed deeply, "I don't know mom… I truly don't know," she answered looking at her mother.

"Every decision that you will make, I'll be there to support you." She comforted her "But please, for god's sake, take your time and think about it before doing something you could regret." She begged her.

Pepper nodded slowly "thank you…" she whispered.

Her mom gave her a faint smile as she stood up. "I'm going to bed… Try to get some sleep" she told gazing at her sternly.

"I'll try, I promise." She answered cracking a smile at her mother, "Good night Mom,"

"Good night, Ginny" she told her before walking to the staircase.

After few minutes, Pepper stood up and climbed the stairs. She opened slowly Dane's door to find him asleep. He was so beautiful, the spitting image of his father. It was hard not to think about Tony Stark when you lived with his living portrait every day. She came closer, stroked his hair and gave him a kiss on his head. She loved him so much; she wanted to protect him from pain as much as she could. But it was not so easy. After, a final look at him, she left his room and went to hers. After a shower, she put her night clothes. She went to her window, to look at the moon and noticed the light in the barn and the Audi still parked next to her car. Her heart started to beat faster when she realized that he hadn't left yet. Her mind tried to process the information. He was actually here only a few hundred meters from her. She rested her forehead on the window, eyes closed, her heart almost jumping through her chest as she remembered the last time she had been close to him.


	7. Chapter 7

_Hello Everyone _

_My god more than 100 reviews ^^ You did it, thank you so much for that. A special thanks to "VirginiaPepperPotts" for the 100th review, and thanks to the 99 others for helping her to do it ^^ So YEahhhh you deserve the chapter 7. Thank you again and I hope you know that all yours reviews and kind words mean a lot for me!_

_Big thanks to MyCedarChest for reviewing this chapter, you did more than a great job. Without your help the chapter wouldn't be so good. So thank you ;)_

_And as usual, I don't own any of the marvel characters (unfortunately) Hope you'll like it, Please review, it'll make my day and it bring you the next chapter faster ^^_

**Chapter 7:**

Tony was on his knees on the floor of the barn. He felt completely lost, his body still shivering from all the tears that he had shed at Pepper's words. He hadn't slept for more than 48 hours, but sleep was far from his mind at this moment. The only thing that he could think of was that the only person he ever loved in his life didn't want to see him ever again. He knew that she had good reasons, but that didn't make her words hurt any less. He knew he loved her more than life itself and it had crushed him that she didn't even see that everything he had done was for her, for her safety, and most of all because he loved her. Did she really think that these 5 years had been a cake walk for him? Without a doubt the past 5 years had been the most horrible years of his life. He had spent most of his time on missions all over the world for SHIELD. He had accepted more missions and assignments than he should have just to keep his mind occupied and keep himself far away from everything that would remind him of her. He didn't even have any clue on how it was that Stark Industries was still standing and still one of the biggest and most successful companies in the world because he hadn't even gone to one Board meeting in literally years. It had been so painful for him to do anything that was related to SI, because everything reminded him of her. And when he would go into his office everyone would ask him about her or talked about her. At least when he was working for SHIELD nobody there would ask him anything about Pepper, even though they all knew what had happened.

He shook his head trying to rid his mind of negative thoughts and tried to compose himself as much as he could. He stood up and suddenly felt so weak, his lack of sleep and food plus the emotional tornado that he just passed through was not helping. He spotted a chair and sat down heavily on it. Head in his hands, he tried to think about his next step. What he was supposed to do? Leave? Stay? Fight? Drift off to sleep? None of those options looked like the right one. He knew that when it came to decisions involving relationships he never had been able to make the right decision even one time in his whole life.

He could stay and fight, fight for Pepper, fight for Dane, but he knew that Pepper didn't want him anymore and he certainly didn't trust himself at all in the role of a father.

He could leave as Pepper asked him, but then that would be like admitting that Pepper was right and that he had sent her away because he couldn't trust her and he was too selfish to even try to see her reasons for staying with him.

As he thought about what he was going to do, his gaze fell on the motorcycle. So he instinctively did what he did best and he got up and went to where the engine parts were laid out on Dane's work table and started to work. He always had the ability to fix everything in his life, but when it came to interpersonal relationships with human beings, he was still always better with machines than people. Maybe Pepper was right; maybe he did love Iron Man more than her because it was a machine and Iron Man was easy to deal with, and easy to fix. He shook his head at this thought. No, she was wrong. He loved her more and he had always loved her more than anything in his life. He had just always been a little dense when it came to matters of the heart.

"_A little_" he highlighted in his thoughts "_Who are you kidding? It took you ten years to show her your true feelings._" And then five years ago, it took him less than five minutes and some mean words on his part to destroy everything good they had between them and drive her away from him, he thought as pain overwhelmed him again.

"_but you did it for her safety_" he argued, just why is it that nobody seemed to see it that way, and why was it that everybody was still thinking that he let her leave him out of his own free will.

"_Come one Stark, who are you trying to convince?_" He argued back. Pepper was right; what he did to her was unfair. But then everything that had happened to him in the past 5 years wasn't fair either! He had wasted his life during the past 5 years, and he had missed out on a great life. He had missed Pepper, he had missed Pepper's pregnancy, he had missed Dane's birth, he had missed Dane's first words, first steps, first everything. But most of all he had just missed Pepper; he missed her so much that it had been slowly killing him; he missed her love, her touch, her smile, her voice, even her frequent reprimands. He wanted nothing more right now than to run out of the barn through the yard, throw open the door to the house, find Pepper and hug her hard and never let go of her again.

While he continued to think about Pepper and Dane, his hands were busy working on the motorcycle. From his earlier look at the engine with Dane, Tony already knew that the cam followers for all of the cylinders were worn out and needed to be replaced. When he had removed the last cam follower he exclaimed out loud. "Ah, here you are!" he said holding on to the metal piece "Don't you know better than to give my son a hard time…" His own words coupled with his exhaustion caused him to sink to his knees and he found himself sitting on the floor amazed at his own words. "My son…" he repeated in disbelief. He was so tired that he was not really sure if he could believe it or not. Here he was finding out after years of not knowing that he had a son, not with one of his one night stands but with Pepper. His Pepper. His love. Then, the reality hit him again. Because by her own words she was no longer his Pepper but Virginia Potts and Dane was not his son but Virginia's son! How could this this have happened! He shook his head and slowly stood up. He reached in his jean pocket to get his cell phone and dialed a number.

"Hey Jarvis, are you there?" he said.

"Yes, Sir, for you always." The AI answered politely.

"I need cam followers for an old Indian 440 flat head motor," Tony said to Jarvis.

"Sir," Jarvis said after a pause no doubt to look up information on the engine "cam followers in good condition are no longer available."

Tony thought for a second than added "Ok, so pull the specs up and get Dummy and U to make a complete set for me."

"Right away, Sir," Jarvis responded obediently.

"And make it fast Jarvis, I need them quickly. Prepare one of the suits on automatic pilot and bring the parts here to me. But make sure it's one of the stealth suits. Everyone here is asleep but me of course." Tony asked bending down next to the motorcycle.

"As you wish Sir." Answered Jarvis.

"Ah and J. Throw in a couple of quarts of automotive hot rod red for me too." Tony said remembering his promise to Dane.

"Yes sir," Jarvis answered almost ironically "We do seem to have a large supply of hot rod red considering we do spend considerable time repainting your suits due to battle damage."

"If I didn't know you better Jarvis, I would swear that you were trying to argue with me.," Tony said

"Sorry, sir, _but I would NEVER do that_." Jarvis replied with just a hint of sarcasm.

Tony shook his head, "Ok fine. I need everything here within 90 minutes" he said

"Already manufacturing the parts, Sir." Jarvis said.

"Thanks J." Tony replied and ended the call, sliding his cell phone into his pant's pocket.

Few meters from the barn, Pepper was still at the window, staring at the barn and asking herself what she should do. She had prayed a lot for this moment, the moment he would come back, actually every night for the past 5 years… So much time, so much pain. At least he had come back, and not because she was pregnant or because he knew about Dane, no, he had come back for her.

She closed her eyes and sighed heavily "_Come on Potts, don't be so stupidly sentimental._" She thought. She returned to her bed and slid under the covers. She was so emotional drained but somehow she was still able to fall asleep quickly.

The next morning, she woke up around 6 am. She slowly opened her eyes and spent the first few seconds of her day trying to figure out if everything that had happened yesterday was a dream or not. She grabbed her Blackberry, and opened her agenda as she did every morning. Tony Stark came back in her life yesterday, she kept reminding herself as she was going through her morning emails. But then did he really ever go out of her life, she thought ironically while reading an email from Emmerson the SI Board member that she appointed CEO before she left Tony and SI. Tony probably still had no idea that she was still involved with running SI by proxy! That she was the one still helping Emmerson to keep SI afloat. She didn't know why she was still doing that, after all these years, because Emmerson should be able to run the company alone by now… But then she had realized only months after she left Tony that if she stopped helping Emmerson and SI, it would mean that she had given up on him… and she hadn't wanted to do that. But now? After her words to Tony yesterday where did she stand now? She shook her head and left her bed, walking slowly to the window. Each step made her heart beat just a little faster. When she realized that the Audi wasn't parked next to her car anymore, she felt her heart start to fall apart in her chest.

"_Come on, it's what you wanted,_" she thought. She shook her head slowly, he was Tony Stark, and she knew him well, so what she really expect from him? She walked into the bathroom to prepare herself for work. Then, after waking up Dane, they joined her mom in the kitchen. After a light breakfast, she kissed slowly Dane on his head.

"I'm leaving honey, be good with Anna." She stated ruffling his dark hair.

"I'm always good with her, mommy, but sometimes she is a little annoying. I mean, she doesn't understand that I already know almost everything she tries to teach me." Dane explained.

"I know, I know sweetheart, I told you, I promise I'll talk to her about that." She answered giving him a smile. "I'm leaving now, bye, see you tonight." She said leaving the kitchen.

"Bye mommy,"

"Bye, Ginny, have a good day at work,"

Pepper reached her car and slid inside. As she went to put her briefcase on the passenger's seat, she spotted a sheet of paper folded in half with her name written on it. She froze for a second, recognizing right away the handwriting on the note. She slowly picked it up and took a deep breath before reading it. She felt tears building in her eyes at every word she read. As she finished reading it, a single tear dropped onto the paper. She suddenly found herself caught between anger and… and love. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair at all! All he had done was left one note for her and of course he thought that she would take him back immediately. Anger won out over love as she rolled down her window and threw the note away into the yard. She took a deep calming breath and started up her car. She had barely left the driveway when she suddenly slammed on the brake. She quickly opened the door and ran in the opposite direction looking for Tony's note which had started to blow down the driveway towards the road. She fell on her knees as she picked up the note and pressed it to her chest, sobbing quietly. The words of Tony echoing in her head…

_ "Virginia,_

_I know that I have made bad decisions my whole life but forcing you to leave me was by far the worst. I should have listened to you and your reasons for staying with me. I should always listen to you. Now, that I realize my mistake it's maybe too late. So starting now, I'll do everything you want me to do. You asked me to leave and get out of your life, so I'll do it, but I want you to know that if one day you change your mind, I'll be there waiting for you. Even if it is in 5, 10 or 15 years, I'll wait for you… Because I love you…_

_ Tony,"_


	8. Chapter 8

_Hello Everyone _

_Thank you very much for all your kind reviews. I'm so happy that you like the story and I hope it will last until the end. So here we are for the next one ;) Ready?_

_Big thanks to MyCedarChest for reviewing again this chapter, your job is always perfect J_

_And as usual, I don't own any of the marvel characters (unfortunately) Hope you'll like it, Please review, it'll make my day and it bring you the next chapter faster ^^_

**Chapter 8:**

Tony woke up around 11 am, the next morning. After he had left the Potts' house late last night, he stopped at a motel in the nearest town to sleep off his exhaustion. He had never been able to sleep more than 6 hours at a time especially when he was not in his own bed. Then Tony sadly remembered that the only period in his life he had slept more than 6 hours at a time was while he had shared a bed with Pepper. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to keep tears from forming at the memory. After shaving and a long shower, Tony checked out of the motel. Tony walked out of the motel office towards a coffee shop on the other side of the road. He had no real plans in mind for what to do next, but he thought a strong cup of coffee might help him come up with one. As he left the shop with a large cup of coffee in his hand, he spotted a car stopped at the traffic light. He looked back at his coffee, and then quickly turned his head again to the car as he seemed to recognize the driver, a woman, with short brown hair, in her early thirties. He was trying to figure out who she was, when her car started to pull away from the traffic light. He followed the car with his eyes and instantly memorized the license plate. He reached in his jean pocket to get his cell phone and dialed Jarvis.

"Jarvis,"

"Yes, sir," answered the AI

"I need you to find out who owns the car registered to Virginia plates XXJ-6610." Tony stated as he was crossing the road to reach his car.

"Right away, Sir," Jarvis answered. After a few seconds the AI started "The car belongs to a certain Anna Bloomfield. She was born in the 30th of June 1982 in Los Angeles, California, she studied…"

Tony cut him off "It's ok J., I don't need her résumé. Do you have a picture?" Tony asked.

"Yes, Sir, It is already on your phone." Jarvis responded.

Tony quickly slid into his car and took a look at the picture. Something about this woman was familiar to him. Tony thought about it a minute when he finally remembered.

"Jarvis? Are you still there?" Tony asked.

"Yes, Sir" answered the AI.

"Could you pull up the SHIELD file "_Item 47_ for me?" Tony asked still looking at the picture on his phone.

"Yes, right away, sir," Jarvis stated.

"Good, send it to me now please." Tony ordered.

"Already done," Jarvis responded obediently.

The project "_Item 47_" had come from an idea of Fury's. After, the events that happened in NYC, almost 8 years ago, a lot of the Chitauri technology had stayed on earth most of it kept by enterprising New Yorkers as souvenirs. All attempts to make any of the alien weapons work had failed until a young couple had started to rob banks using a functioning Chitauri hand held weapon. After SHIELD had retrieved the weapon and had interrogated the couple, the project "_Item 47_" was started within Shield. Fury had wanted to create new weapon system based on the Chitauri technology. As the world's foremost weapon engineer, Tony Stark had been the first one assigned to this task. Then, when SHIELD had realized that Tony was trying to actually slow down and even derail the design process instead of really helping; he had been excluded from it by Fury. But of course by that time Tony had already backwards engineered the weaponry, secured the information on his personal secured files, and effectively sabotaged the weapon in order to prevent anyone else from figuring out how the weapons really worked.

"Here you are," Tony exclaimed as he was looking through the files that Jarvis just sent to him. "Claire Wise," he said looking at the picture of the girl, "it seems that you look like a lot like Miss Anna Bloomfield here." He stated ironically. "Jarvis, do we have information on Claire Wise?" Tony asked his AI.

Jarvis took time before answering, "It seems that she was appointed as Agent Blake's assistant just after been arrested with the Chitauri gun, her boyfriend Benjamin Pollack was appointed to work on Project 47. Her aptitudes lead her to become a field SHIELD agent, 6 years ago. It seems that no other data is available on her, since then." Jarvis concluded.

"What the hell is a SHIELD agent doing here?" Tony asked.

"I have no idea, Sir." The AI stated.

"I know J., it was just a rhetorical question." Tony paused for a minute then added. "It is a funny coincidence that a SHIELD agent is under cover in a small rural Virginia town like this. A small town where the woman that I love and my son live by the way."

"If I may interrupt you Sir, it might not be a coincidence." Jarvis stated.

"Oh, yes Jarvis. I pretty much agree with you. Are you ready to break into the SHIELD data base system again, J?" Tony asked as he started his car.

"I am always here to please, Sir." Jarvis replied politely.

"Ok, start without me, J. I'm on my way. I'll be in Stark Tower in less than five hours." Tony said hitting the gas pedal.

At the same time, in the Pott's farm house, Dane and his grandmother were finishing lunch.

"Can I go work on the motorcycle after lunch, Grandma please?" Dane asked as he was eating the last spoon of his mashed potatoes.

"Anna told me that she gave you some homework to do for this afternoon." his grandmother said suspiciously.

Dane sighed heavily "Yes ma'am , but I can finish it fast," he paused and then added "You know yesterday I made a lot of progress with Tony's help and I thought about something last night that I want to check on the engine." He noticed the disapproving look in his grandmother eyes, so he quickly added with his best puppy dog eyes "please, Grandma…"

She thought about it for a few seconds then spoke "Ok, let's make a deal," Dane was listening carefully, "You can go to work on the motorcycle for one hour, then you come back inside and do your homework,"

Dane stood up and hugged her "Thank you so much Grandma!"

She smiled and hugged him back, "And please, no arguing when I ask you to stop and come back inside." She stated in a serious tone.

He pulled away and looked at his grandmother, raising one hand up "Promise!"

She smiled at him and ruffled his dark hair "Go on sweetheart, I'm going to go wash the dishes,"

Dane ran out the kitchen yelling "Thank you!" back towards his grandmother who smiled after him.

Dane entered the barn and noticed right away that his things had been moved around since yesterday. As he came closer the motorcycle, he saw a note on the seat. Dane immediately picked up the note to read it.

_"Dane, _

_When we worked together on the motorcycle yesterday, I had figured out that all the cams followers were worn out and needed to be replaced. I took the liberty to mount the new ones on the engine. With that done, you'll be able to finish restoring the engine by yourself, I trust you on that._

_I'll probably not be able to keep my promise to help you repaint the motorcycle. I'm so sorry, but it's not under my control and you are too young to understand why. , I left you some hot rod red paint, so you'll be able (with supervision) to paint it by yourself._

_I hope to see you again soon,_

_ Tony,"_

"Awesome!" exclaimed Dane as he looked at the motorcycle engine in order to check what Tony was talking about. He was so excited about the engine's repairs that he first didn't pay attention to the last part of the note. "I knew it that it had to be the cam followers!" he said victoriously, a big smile on his face. Then, his gaze dropped to the paint cans on the floor next to the front wheel. He looked again at Tony's note and his smile faded slowly.

"_Why am I, too young?_" he thought. He was wondering what could have possibly happened between Tony and his mom. It must have been big and important. Dane was still disappointed though. He had only seen Tony one time but Dane felt like he somehow already knew him well and that they were both a lot alike in many ways. And besides, Tony was Iron Man and it was huge for a young boy like him to be 'friends' with the Incredible Iron Man! He turned his attention back to the motorcycle and started to work on it again, slowly forgetting about Tony's note.

One hour later, Dane's grandmother walked into the barn.

"Come on Dane, it's time to do your homework." She called as she got close to Dane's 'workshop' area of the barn.

Dane hovered over the motorcycle's engine, clearly in the middle of something "Five more minutes, please grandma, I want to finish this one thing first,"

"Dane Anthony Potts, I warned you, no arguing!" his grandmother said severely.

Dane sighed loudly "Fine…" he said now visibly upset.

His grandmother shook her head and mumbled quietly "You are so like your father sometimes…"

Dane, who was now looking at her in disbelief, asked "What did you just say, Grandma?"

His grandmother realized her verbal slip and recovered quickly "Nothing, sweetheart, just that sometimes you are really stubborn."

"Mmhh..." replied Dane, not really convinced that his grandmother was telling him the truth now.

Halfway down the walkway leading to the farmhouse, Dane suddenly stopped and said "Wait, I forgot something in the barn!" He started to run back towards the barn before his grandmother could say anything. He quickly ran back to join her now carrying a paper in his hands.

"What's that?" his grandmother asked noticing the paper immediately.

"A note that Tony left for me," he said proudly.

His grandmother looked at him suspiciously, "Can I see it?" she asked.

Dane hesitated for a second then handed the note to his grandmother as they continued walking towards the farmhouse. He waited patiently for her to finish reading it and then asked. "What happened between Tony and Mommy, Grandma? And why am I too young to understand?"

His grandmother actually gasped, and froze mid step in the middle of the walkway, suddenly very unsure as to how to respond to Dane's question.


	9. Chapter 9

_Hello Everyone _

_I got the feeling that you didn't like so much the last chapter, I got half less reviews than usual. I hope you'll like better this one. I'm sorry for the delay but it was crazy at work last week, as compensation, I write a longer one._

_I want to thank MyCedarChest for her help. She has a really good impact on the fic and she made me always good comment and help me so much to improve it. You advice are gold for me ^^_

_ And as usual, I don't own any of the marvel characters (unfortunately) Hope you'll like it, Please review, it'll make my day and it bring you the next chapter faster ^^_

**Chapter 9**

**Chapter 9**

Exactly 4 hours and 3 minutes later, Tony's Audi roared into the private sub-level parking garage at Stark Tower. He went straight to his lab.

"So, where are we, Jarvis?" He asked wanting a current update from Jarvis as he entered the lab.

"I'm actually finishing overwriting protocol 775 of the SHIELD data base system currently." explained Jarvis.

"Well done, J. Let me check two or three things before you bust Shield's chops," Tony said as he started deploying holographic images of files in front of him.

"Sir, I have to warn you that it won't take long before Director Fury's security director figures out what we are attempting to do…" The AI cautioned before being abruptly cut off by Tony.

"I know, J. That's why we have to be fast and that's why I'm here and not calmly drinking coffee in Virginia right now," Tony said ironically as his hands moved quickly sorting out files. "So when you bust in, I want you to search for all files containing the following keywords: Claire Wise, Anna Bloomfield, Dane Anthony Potts, Virginia Anne Potts or Edna Edith Potts names and download them onto our private server. Shield's not as slow on the uptake as they once were thanks to me and we will not have access to their files for long Jarvis, so you have to be quick!" Tony ordered as he slid two holographic files to his right and deposited them into Jarvis's inbox.

"I am always quick, Sir." Jarvis sarcastically replied.

Tony didn't immediately reply to Jarvis' attempt at sarcasm preferring to deal with the task at hand. "Ok, I've set up the smoke screen from Stark Tower and reconfigured your break-in to appear to be from somewhere in China. I don't want Fury to figure out too fast that we are the ones who hacked into his system."

"You know sir that Director Fury will eventually discern the origin of his security breach," Jarvis started.

"Yes, I know Jarvis, but at least I want enough time to analyze their data and plan our next move. I don't know what information they have collected, and I don't know yet how this Claire Wise is connected to Pepper or Dane." Tony stopped as he thought again about how it was that a damned SHIELD agent had somehow wormed her way into his family. _His family_… This thought of him having a family suddenly made him grin like an idiot. He knew that righting all his wrongs wasn't going to be easy, but he knew also that he was determined to get his family back. He had already wasted too much time away from them and he would do anything and everything to win back Pepper's trust and love and hopefully win Dane's love too.

He shook his head because he was getting ahead of himself again. "_Ok Stark, first you need to find out what SHIELD is trying to do here!_"

"OK Jarvis, let's add to the keywords anything related to the state of Virginia, and also add the nickname "Pepper". Try to focus on all classified data especially any data hidden on ghost drives." Tony said as he started rearranging more holographic images.

"As you wish, sir." was the AI's polite response.

Tony sighed heavily the weight of what they were about to do resting uncomfortably on him, "Are you ready, J.?"

"Yes, sir." Affirmed Jarvis.

"Ok, Fury, let's see what you're hiding from me." Tony said as suddenly thousands of holographic images started floating all around him as Jarvis began to pull the data from Shield's databases. The images started to switch to different colors as Jarvis downloaded them on to his secured drives. Tony watched the progression on his main screen as the seconds ticked by quickly and the total number of files increased dramatically with each second of time that elapsed

Tony had already started reviewing some of the selected files as Jarvis was continuing to gather data. There were so many different files, from reports of field agents, to recording of phone calls, even medical certificates.

After few minutes, the holograms suddenly disappeared and Jarvis spoke "Connection lost, sir."

"Damned, ole one eye must have finally hired some competent people to oversee his security. Did you have enough time to find what we were looking for?" Tony asked his AI.

"I believe so sir, I scanned over 90% of Shield's database using our key words." Jarvis answered confidently.

"Well done, J." Tony exclaimed, "Can you now show me only the files that cover the last 5 years?"

"Yes, Sir" Jarvis said after a few second, "Sir, it appears that more than 80% of these files are related to a classified project name '_Salt's offspring'_." The AI added.

"Who the hell did Fury put in charge to create Shield project's names?" Tony asked in disbelief somewhat miffed at the apparent meaning behind the project name. "No matter, show me the files related to this project, J."

Tony started to work his way through the files and it didn't take him a long to figure out that his previous suspicions were justified as he started to read a mission assignment for a SHIELD agent assigned by Fury to this project.

_"Virginia Potts has resigned as CEO of Stark Industries and has also called an end to her 3 year relationship with Tony Stark. This relationship break up was perhaps the result of Virginia Potts being kidnapped one month previous by one of the Iron Man enemies in an apparent attempt to force Tony Stark into some sort of a bargaining with the kidnapper. Miss Potts was successfully rescued by Stark shortly after her kidnapping. Given that she is no longer under the protection of Tony Stark it's still highly probable that Virginia Potts could still be a potential target for kidnapping. Our recommendation is that she should now be placed under SHIELD covert protection. You are hereby assigned to insure Virginia Potts' safety and security until, we are sure that she is no longer a potential target."_

"_Ok, that makes sense_" was the first thought of Tony. He even felt a little grateful to Fury for wanting to protect Pepper. He had been wallowing in his own self-pity for so long that he hadn't even occurred to him that she could still be a target even if she wasn't with him. He wondered why Fury hadn't told him about Shield wanting to protect Pepper. Then, he remembered his state of mind state during this period of time. During this time he hadn't been really listening to anyone about anything that wasn't related to his next mission with Shield. He was totally in denial about Pepper leaving him. In an effort to forget about Pepper, he had spent 90% of his time in his Iron Man suit during the first year, taking on one mission after another.. And when he had been on the ground, he had been too drunk to think about anything else at all. The years which followed the first one were not much better for him.

As he continued his research into Shield's files he found a more interesting report from the SHIELD agent in charge of Pepper's security to Fury.

_"It appears that Virginia Potts is pregnant. There is not a lot of doubt with regard to who the father is. I'm waiting for your orders."_

Tony couldn't believe what he was reading. Fury knew about Pepper's pregnancy and hadn't said anything at all to him! Anger started to flood into his body. He selected another file and found a contact report about a meeting regarding the "_Virginia Anne Potts" case_. As he read through it, he suddenly felt his blood freeze at the following words.

_"Since it appears that Tony Stark has no idea about her pregnancy, we will be allowed certain liberties to follow his child undected as he grows. It will be interesting to see if the compounds present in Stark's ARC reactor could have an effect on his offspring. We will also have to consider the genetic aptitudes of his father and grandfather as well as his mother in assessing the value of the young Stark to Shield."_

Overwhelmed, Tony reached for the chair behind him and fell heavily onto it. He ran his hand nervously through his hair as he tried to process this new information. He hadn't even thought about the possibility that he could genetically pass down to his children trace elements from the ARC reactor. Since he wasn't a biologist or a geneticist, he wasn't sure about the effects of the vibranium of the ARC reactor on his sperm. He tried to pull himself together as he continued to open other files one by one until he found one that literally broke his heart. It was a note from the Shield agent Evans to Nick Fury.

_"Virginia Potts appears to be giving up living on her own. She appears to be entertaining the idea of calling Tony Stark to tell him that she is pregnant. I must assume that she starting to suffer from depression as a result of their separation. Although she continues to work in her business being a consultant to the CEO of Stark Industries, she appears to no longer be fully involved in her work. Awaiting your orders."_

Fury orders was clear and cold blooded.

_"We have to keep her from contacting Tony Stark. Do whatever you can to re-engage her at work. Drum up some new business opportunities to occupy her time. The situation is perfect for us. Tony Stark is currently 100% available for Shield missions. Iron Man is of great value to Shield and we want to keep him working exclusively for us instead of him leaving Shield to take care of Potts... Moreover, we'll have his offspring well within our reach for study. His child no doubt will be a great recruit in the future and will probably be more obedient and devoted to Shield than Tony Stark considering the fact that we will educate him in this way."_

This was worse than anything Tony could have imagined. Shield had completely ruined his life... But then again just who was he kidding: _he_ had ruined his own life by letting Pepper leave to begin with. But after all he had done for Shield the least Fury could have done was to help him get Pepper back. It was beginning to appear that Shield had completely sabotaged his life during the past 5 years by hiding the truth from him and doing everything they could to keep Pepper far away from him. He wanted nothing more right now than to fly to the helicarrier and show Fury exactly how he felt about this! But he knew that it was not a good idea to confront Fury right now. He had to be smarter than them. He had to think about his next move carefully. He was still reading through the files, and discovered file after file of documentation to support just how much Fury had done to keep he and Pepper apart. "_She wanted to come back_" the thought flew through his mind almost breaking his heart. He was starting to understand just what she went through during all these years. And all because of him… It had always been because of him… The only thing he could ever seem to do for her had always been to hurt her… He felt the pressure of guilt inside his chest grow until it was almost unbearable. As he continued to blame himself in his mind for Pepper's misery, a file suddenly caught his attention. It was a medical report: a medical report for one Dane Anthony Potts.

_"The blood analysis does confirm the presence of vibranium at low concentration in the young Potts body. But as of this date there seems to be no adverse effects to his intellectual development or his physical growth. However we believe it is too early in the study to completely rule out the possibility that Dane Potts could suffer some abnormality due to the exposure of his body to the element." _

"_Damn!_" was his first thought. Tony's monthly physicals check-up had never turned up anything unusual in his blood a result of the Vibranium exposure. How come trace of Vibranium were found in Dane's body? He didn't like this at all. He quickly scanned more files in order to find more current medical reports on Dane. He wanted to know if they had found something. But even the most recent was inconclusive. At least per Shield the vibranium in his body didn't seem to have any consequences for Dane. Tony felt somewhat relieved but he still had the fear that something was wrong with Dane. Tony was scared, very scared that something could happen to Dane because of him. He knew that Pepper would never forgive him if something happened to Dane moreover if it was somehow linked back to Tony. And of course he would never forgive himself either.

"Jarvis?" Tony said as a chill ran down his spine.

"Yes, sir?" answered quickly the AI.

"I need you to run some tests…" Tony said quickly, then paused.

"What type of tests, sir and on what?" Jarvis pushed back at him.

"I don't really know honestly," he took his head in his hands, thought for few minutes, and then stood up quickly. He selected some files, "OK J., I want you to implement blood analysis using my last blood screening and the results from Shield's blood test of Dane in a comparative analysis program," he started.

"Right now, sir?" Jarvis asked

"Yes, right now Jarvis. And I want to you to also run a projection curve taking into account all the possible evolution of any found anomalies over the next 20 years for both Dane and I."

"Yes, Sir." Jarvis obediently replied.

"Also, Jarvis, there are some RNA sequencing of Dane's genome in the Shield files that we recovered. I want you to try to find any correlation between Dane's DNA and my DNA that could be considered as a mutation... Try to look at the repeat sequences... See if you can find any connections which could potentially cause abnormalities and especially presence of vibranium in his body." He added, trying to think logically and clearly even though his mind kept bringing him back to the fact that they were talking about his son's life here.

"Sir, I don't want to contradict you, but I believe the Shield has done that already and concluded that there were no correlations," Jarvis said hesitantly.

"I'm betting that we probably don't have all the Shield files containing their test results and I want to make sure their analysis was correct. Besides, Shield doesn't have you, and I know for a fact that you are able to run circles around Shield when it comes to data analysis and in half the time too."

"That is true, sir." affirmed Jarvis, "However I should remind you that Shield most likely has a full team of competent biologists and geneticists working on this particular project and they have the advantage of years of research." The AI concluded fatally.

"You might be right Jarvis, but we can't just sit here and do nothing. This is my son's health and life we are talking about here. " Tony admitted.

"I have already begun the analysis, sir. Projected completion time is 6 hours and 33 minutes." Jarvis informed him quietly as if trying to reassure him that he intended to complete his assigned task not only quickly but accurately.

"Thanks, J." Tony said.

Tony thought now about his next move. What was he going to do? Pepper had probably no clue about was going on. No clue that she was surrounding by Shield agent and that her and Dane's life had been almost governed by them since 5 years. He shook his head, trying to think clearly about the situation. Shield would figure out soon that he hacked into their system and he had no idea what they were going to do to him or Pepper and Dane when they would. When they would see that only files implying Pepper or Dane had been download from their data base, considering only Tony had a vested interest in both Pepper and Dane, Shield would no doubt quickly ascertain his guilt. But what they would do? Shield seemed to be too much involved to abandon _Salt's Offspring_ just yet. They have at least a dozen of their agents scattered throughout Pepper's life now from Dane's tutor to Pepper's coworkers. They could take action against them at any time. But then what would Shield possibly do?

"_Fury would never kidnap them._" Tony thought for a second. Then, he realized than he would never have imagined that Fury and Shield would do what they had already done to them. Dane was probably too much valuable to lose him now.

His whole body tensed when he eventually realized that Shield would probably do anything in order to keep control of Dane who appeared to be nothing more than a laboratory experiment to them. "_Anything?_" he thought… And probably, no matter what it cost Shield or Tony's family.

Tony's fist crashed on his desk! "Jarvis," Tony started immediately running to the other part of his lab, "Prepare the suit, right now!" he ordered upon reaching the elevator.


	10. Chapter 10

_Hello Everyone _

_I know that the delay for the chapter 9 was a little long so I decided to be nice and to write and post the chapter 10 as fast as I can… And so, here we are. Thank you for your kind reviews. I hope you'll like this one, serious things are on the point to start now lol!_

_I want to thank again MyCedarChest for her persistent help to correct my flaw in English sometimes._

_ And as usual, I don't own any of the marvel characters (unfortunately) Hope you'll like it, Please review, it'll make my day and it bring you the next chapter faster ^^_

**Chapter 10**

It was only 4 pm that afternoon and Pepper Potts was already thinking about leaving work to go back home. To be honest, she couldn't really concentrate on her work today, her mind still drifting back to the events of last night and this morning. The note that Tony left for her continued to sit on her desk. She had lost track of how many times she had read it since bringing it with her to work this morning. Her mind was still a jumble of emotions and she couldn't decide whether to be angry or happy about what he had written. The last part of his note was the most provoking for her. He had written that he would wait for her even if it was 5, 10, or 20 years, meaning what? Was he inferring that somehow _she_ was unwilling to wait for him? Did he think that _she_ was supposed to forgive him because he would be willing to wait for her? She took a deep breath and let it out slowly trying to calm the rising tide of emotions within her. Maybe she was just too focused on finding any possible negatives in his note because, after all, she still felt quite bitter about being treated so unfairly by Tony 5 years ago. It was possible that his words may not have held any hidden meaning for her: maybe he had just wanted to tell her how much he loved her and that he would let her decide if she wanted to see him again, and that he really would wait until she would be able to forgive him. She shook her head for the nth time today and tried again to derail her thoughts from traveling once again to the same subject… Tony Stark!

She sighed heavily, "Come on Potts, you need to focus…" She told herself starting typing again on her laptop, responding to some email from a partner in Europe. As she was proofreading the email she had just written, she immediately stopped on the sentence "_We have a small stark in the business_". Ok, this was the icing on the cake! She had unconsciously transposed "_stake_" and "_stark_"! She had now even started to write his name without realizing it. She immediately corrected the error, sent the email and closed her laptop. '_That's it_', she thought to herself, and she quickly decided to call it a day. She placed her laptop in her brief case, grabbed the rest of her stuff and left her work without the slightest hesitation. Thirty minutes later, she arrived at the Potts' farmhouse. She felt a slight twinge of pain nipping at her heart when she noticed only her mother's car in front of the house. She knew that Tony had left during the night, but unconsciously, she had hoped that he would be there when she returned from work. She shook her head trying to clear it of all thoughts of Tony. She gathered up her things from the passenger seat of her car and headed for the front door of the farmhouse.

"I'm home," she said, closing the door behind her.

"I'm in the kitchen, Ginny." She heard her mother say from the other room.

She entered in the kitchen and found her mother sitting at the table slicing some tomatoes. "You are early today," Her mother said raising one eyebrow at her as if in surprise.

"Yeah, I wasn't really busy today and I thought that it could be good to come home a little earlier so I could spend some extra time with Dane." she said opening the fridge to grab the orange juice bottle.

Her mother sighed heavily "Yeah, you are right. You do need to spend some extra time with Dane today."

"What do you mean?" Pepper asked suspiciously as she took a glass down from the top cabinet.

Her mother grabbed a paper towel and began to dry her hands as she stood up to face Pepper who was now pouring the orange juice in her glass. "You have to talk to Dane." Pepper put her glass down on the table, now carefully listening to her mother. "He is smart, Ginny. He knows that something is going on but he doesn't know what exactly, and he is troubled by it."

"What happened today that would make you think of that, mom?" Pepper asked trying to understand where her mother wanted to go exactly with that comment.

"This afternoon, Dane asked me what happened between you and Tony."

Pepper's heart started to beat faster, "And what did you tell him?" she asked, almost scared to hear the answer.

"Nothing. What did you want me to say? It is not my role as his grandmother to tell him. I don't even know if you want to tell him or not." Her mother said flatly.

"Thank you," Pepper said half relieved.

"Don't thank me sweetheart, but you need to talk to him soon. I mean, he is young but he is very intuitive and smart." Her mother said laying one hand on Pepper's shoulder and giving it a tender squeeze.

"Yeah, I know…" She took a sip of her orange juice suddenly lost in thought. "I'll talk to him today," she said decisively as if trying to convince herself at the same time.

"What will you tell him exactly?" her mother asked both curious and concerned for both Pepper and Dane.

"I don't know exactly yet, but no matter what I say to him it will be the truth. He deserves it. I can't hide it from him forever." Her mother's gaze immediately fell to the floor and Pepper knew that her mother was now disappointed with her, "I know what you think mom, but as I told you last night, I don't want Dane to hate me because I hid the truth from him about his father for too long." She quickly pulled her mom in her arms and hugged her gently as her mom hugged her back. "I just wanted Dane to be a little older when I told him, but now that Tony has jumped into his life, it's probably best that I tell him now. I suppose it is now or never." Pepper explained slowly rubbing her mother's back.

Her mother pushed away a little and looked her daughter in the eyes "And would 'never' ever be an option for you?"

Pepper smiled at her knowing her mom's sense of humor "No, it's not and you know it."

Her mother tried to hide her smile "Yes, I know." She replied. Her face suddenly became serious again. "But I'm also scared Ginny. I don't want Dane to suffer and most of all I'm afraid for you."

"I know mom…" She said pulling her back into her embrace. "I know…" she repeated in quiet soothing voice. She wanted so bad to tell to her mother not to be scared, that everything would be fine, but she couldn't because she too was scared and more unsure than ever of what she was going to say to Dane. She was very concerned about how he would react to her words. He was so mature for his age, but underneath the adult IQ, he was still only a 4 and half year old child. She rested her head on her mother's shoulder for a few more seconds before she spoke again "Is he upstairs?" she asked.

"Yes, he was still asleep when I checked on him before I started dinner. He worked a little in the barn on the motorcycle after lunch, and then he did some homework that Anna gave to him. I put him to bed for his nap around 3 pm." Her mother explained.

"Good, then at least I have some time to think about what I am going to tell him and relax a little," Pepper said grabbing her glass again. "Do you need me to help you with something?" she asked her mother as she saw her sit down again at the table immediately picking up a tomato and slicing it.

"No, it's OK sweetheart," she said smiling at Pepper, "go do whatever you want."

Pepper kissed her mother on her cheek, "Thank you mom," she said quietly as she left the kitchen and headed for the stairs.

Her mother smiled turning to look at her daughter as she left the kitchen. She hoped that Pepper would find the right words in her heart for Dane to help him understand just how complicated his parents' lives were. Mrs. Potts knew that her daughter was one of the kindest, most compassionate people on earth, and she had faith that things would work out for her and Dane. "_Dane is also a lot like his mother after all…_" She thought knowing that Dane would somehow be able to understand what had happened between his parents as she began to slice the tomatoes once again.

At the same time, outside, a significant and familiar roar could be heard in the sky growing louder by the second. Flaps. Thrusters. Then, with a loud metallic clank he landed behind the barn, as a clatter of metallic ringing filled the air. Tony walked heavily around the barn and entered the side door. He decided that it was better to remove the suit instead of knocking at the door as Iron Man. Iron Man had caused enough stress in all of their lives already. The suit slowly dissembled, freeing up his body. He placed the suit meticulously in a corner of the barn near Dane's 'workshop', and he slowly walked out of the barn. As he was walking, his heart started to beat faster. When he finally reached the front porch, he was suddenly struck with the feeling of déjà vu. In less than 48 hours this was the second time that he had been in the same exact position, frozen in anxiety in front of the Pott's farmhouse door. He took a big, deep breath to steady himself and knocked sharply on the door...


	11. Chapter 11

_Hello Everyone _

_Here we are for the chapter 11. I know that a lot between you were waiting for this chapter with impatience, all your PMs Proof of it! I want to thank you all for your support and your reviews; it's really nice to see that you like the story and my work. It's really important for me. 200 reviews? Do you think we can do it? ^^ Ready for the longest chapter of this story? ;)  
_

_I want to thank again MyCedarChest for her persistent help to correct my flaw in English sometimes (or maybe often lol ^^)._

_And as usual, I don't own any of the marvel characters (unfortunately) Hope you'll like it, Please review, it'll make my day and it bring you the next chapter faster ^^_

**Chapter 11**

The old door creaked open, slowly revealing Pepper's mother. Tony did his best to smile at her, but the cold expression on Edna's face caused his smile to wilt quickly.

"Mrs. Potts," Tony said in the most polite way he could.

"Tony, what are you doing here, _again_?" she asked wryly.

"I'm sorry," he said as he excused himself, "but I need to talk to Virginia as soon as possible." He explained sincerely.

"I don't think she wants to talk to you, Tony." She responded harshly.

"I know you are probably right, but it is really important that I speak with her," he almost begged.

"You know that you amaze me sometimes?" she said disgustedly as she shook her head in disbelief, "We don't get any messages from you for five years, and then in less than 48 hours you knock upon my door two times. And now you have suddenly _important_ stuff to discuss! What could possibly be so _important now_?" she asked hatefully.

"I know that you don't want to believe me, but trust me, she needs to know what I have to tell her…" Tony pleaded.

He was cut off by Edna's mocking laugh, "Trust you?" she repeated, amazed by Tony's effrontery. "My god…" she said in disbelief. "Don't you think that you already messed up enough for the time being? Leave her alone for Christ's sake! She needs her space and time to figure out everything out now."

"What do you mean everything?" Tony asked suddenly becoming even more worried.

"Come on Tony. I warned you when you showed up here yesterday. Jumping back into her life like that was not a good idea, especially involving Dane like you did." Edna almost spat out.

"I didn't want to, you know… I was leaving, and then he talked to me and… And then, of course, I figured it out. He is my son, Edna. Why did you want to hide that from me?" he said in a hurt tone.

"It was not my role to tell you about Dane. And I thought I made myself clear enough to you yesterday: we have been doing quite well by ourselves for the past 5 years, and we don't need you to come around here wanting to shake up everything." She stated flatly.

"I know," he acknowledged quietly, gazing at his shoes because he couldn't bear to look Edna in the eye. Then he quickly pulled himself together remembering what he came to do in the first place. "I'm sorry for everything Mrs. Potts, believe it or not. But I really need to talk to Virginia, _now_." He insisted.

"Tony, I don't know if…" Edna started before being cut off by a soft voice coming from upstairs.

"Let him come in, mom." Pepper voice quietly said from the top of the staircase.

Tony's heart immediately started to beat faster at the sound of her voice. Edna lowered her shoulders in defeat and slowly opened up the door more in order to let him pass through. Tony walked slowly inside looking up as he moved towards the stairs, quickly spotting Pepper at the top of them. He forced himself to look her in the eyes, somehow hoping that the seriousness of his visit would be somehow locked deep within his own eyes and help convince her to let him speak with her. "I really need to talk to you," he quietly stated his eyes still locked with hers.

Pepper stood motionless, wanting to let the stairs stay between them for the moment. She thought that it was easier to deal with him at a distance. She looked at her mom who had followed behind Tony. She saw the disapprobation in her eyes, and the soft shake of her head. Pepper turned her stony gaze to Tony as she broke the silence "I thought you were doing what I ask you to do, _now_."

"I know and I was sincere about that, but after I left here I discovered something that you should know," he explained quickly.

Pepper was hesitating, caught between her desire to know what he had to tell and her anger with him.

Tony noticed her hesitation and he added with the most serious tone he could "Please, _Virginia_, I wouldn't be begging you if it wasn't really important."

Pepper was somehow shocked by the sincerity in his voice and also by the fact that it was one of the very few times that she had heard him call her by her given name. "OK, come upstairs," she told him. Her mom looked at her in disbelief. Pepper tried to give her a reassuring smile but Edna just shook her head and left the room in a huff heading for the kitchen.

Pepper started walking along the hallway before Tony was completely upstairs. He followed her quickly, desperately wanting to be close to her. She stopped at her room's door, sighed deeply once, and then entered her bedroom, staying next to the wall as she opened the door for him, door handle still in her hand. Tony walked quickly inside, passing closely next to her forcing her to draw a quick, audible breath at his sudden closeness, and she quickly closed the door behind them. Tony continued walking until he reached the set of double windows, absently staring outside as he tried to compose himself. Being with her in the small room, her proximity to him was not helping him concentrate at all.

"I didn't want my mom to hear us." she said, explaining the reason behind their presence upstairs.

He turned to face her "Yeah," was the only word that he could get out of his mouth at that second. Suddenly even breathing was hard. He knew that he was not claustrophobic, but being in the room with her like this gave him the feeling that the walls were closing on him. He tried to regulate his breathing and calm down because after yesterday, he was almost surprised that she had actually accepted his request to talk to her again. Maybe there was hope for them yet. Steadying himself, he slowly turned around until he was facing her.

"_So_," her voice broke his train of thought as he looked up at her face, "What are you here for?" she asked curtly.

_OK, here we go! _He thought. He suddenly realized that he didn't know how to start telling her what he had found out this morning. "Ok, maybe it's better if you sit first" he said approaching her and reaching out to her as if to lead her to the bed.

She moved quickly, avoiding him and said harshly "Don't play with me Stark! You are here because you want to tell me something, so go ahead and say it! We are not here to have small talk!"

He could tell that she was doing her best to keep the conversation quiet, but the fierce tone of her voice took him aback. "I'm sorry, I…"

She cut him off quickly. "Oh, please stop being _sorry_, it's starting to sound pathetic!"

He sighed heavily trying to pull his thoughts together. Out of habit, he started pacing the length of the room quietly tapping the arc reactor with his fingers. He quickly tried to figure out just how exactly he would explain it to her.

"Come on, Tony, you are starting to drive me crazy!" Pepper said becoming increasingly annoyed by his silence, his pacing, and the tapping on his arc reactor. She had seen him do this so many times when he was nervous, but after all he had put her through the last 5 years she no longer had the patience or tolerance of his habits.

"I need you and Dane to come with me to Malibu," he finally blurted out. He thought perhaps that being direct and to the point was the best way to start the conversation.

Pepper actually started to laugh quietly in disbelief as he spoke… _Ok maybe a little bit too direct_, he thought.

"You must be kidding me right now?" she said anger flaring up once again in her eyes.

"No, it's not what you think," he started immediately trying to defend himself.

"No? It's not? Phew… Because I really thought that the '_important thing_' that you discovered was that Dane and me have to move in with you!" She said sarcastically, her tone mixed with irony and anger.

"I'm sorry, I…" Tony tried to interject.

"Arrrgghhhhh!" she said a little louder suddenly blowing out a big breath. "Again with your apologies! I can't handle this anymore! That's it, I'm fed up. You need to leave _now_!" she told him turning to walk to the door.

"No Pepper, I…" he tried to explain following her quickly to the door.

"_Now_, Tony!" She said coldly opening the door for him.

"It's about Dane. He is in danger!" He said quickly and quietly trying his best to make her listen to reason.

She froze, her blue eyes opened wide in both surprise and fear. He slowly approached her, gently removing her hand from the door handle and closing the door for her. The sudden contact between their skin made them both shiver at the feeling. He led her slowly to the bed and gently pushed her down to sit on the bed. He kneeled down in front of her and took both her hands in his. He looked up into her eyes, his bourbon eyes pleading with her to listen. As she looked deeply in his eyes she suddenly realized that she saw not only love and sincerity in his eyes but fear as well, and she knew instinctively that the next words coming out of his mouth were going to be the truth. She finally managed to pull her gaze from his eyes, drifting slowly down to her hands trapped within his. She could not deny that his touch felt so good and so right, but then again so unfair. She slowly removed her hands from his grasp trying her best to help herself to focus on their conversation.

"What exactly is going on?" She asked quietly, her tone much softer than before.

He sighed softly, still kneeling before her and decided to start from the beginning, "This morning, as I was leaving the motel in town after getting some sleep before driving back to Malibu, I recognized a Shield agent in a car that was driving along the road in front of the motel," Pepper looked at him stunned. "Yeah, I had the same reaction too." He told her "I had Jarvis run the plates on her car. Her name is Claire Wise but Jarvis cross checked some old Shield files and found out that her alias is currently Anna Bloomfield."

"Dane's tutor…" Pepper whispered in disbelief looking down at him in shock, fear quickly replacing all other emotions on her face.

"Yeah, I know," Tony said wanting to hold her hand to give her some of his strength knowing that she was immediately in fear for Dane's safety.

"But why?" She asked Tony locking eyes once again with her. She suddenly felt at a loss for words as she desperately tried to process the information that Tony had just given her.

"That's what I wanted to figure out too. So I went back to Stark Tower and I had Jarvis break into the Shield data base system." Pepper was listening to him carefully now, her blue eyes luminous with concentration. Even under the circumstances, Tony thought she had never looked so beautiful. He focused again on his story. "Five years ago when we…broke up," Tony said, eyes full of sadness at the last two words. He closed his eyes briefly and then started up again, "Fury assigned an agent to watch over you," Tony saw incomprehension in Pepper eyes at his words so he added "Shield was concerned that you could still be a target as you were no longer under my protection, and they decided to assign an agent to you just to make sure that nothing would happen to you." This appeared to make sense to her and she nodded at him in understanding. "Then, this agent figured out that you were pregnant." Tony said quietly with hesitation as Pepper's pregnancy was a difficult topic for him.

"But what is Shield's interest in me being pregnant?" She asked her face forming a small frown of concern.

"Their interest was not in you being pregnant, but in you being pregnant with _our_ child." Tony pointed out wanting so badly to take her hands in his that he had to clinch his fists in frustration.

"So Shield didn't tell you, did they?" She asked him looking down at his hands, then back up to his face.

"No they didn't because they didn't want to keep me from going on missions for them." He replied noticing her looking at his hands and immediately relaxing his fists. "And I found out that Shield went to great lengths to keep information about you from me." He told her.

"What do you mean?" she asked softly, concerned about what his words meant for her.

"They found out that you wanted to call me," he said gently. Her eyes quickly broke away from his, gazing at the floor as she slowly blushed. So for the first time since he came back to her, and only for a few seconds, Tony felt like he had his Pepper in front him once again. The kind, gentle woman, who used to blush like a little girl when she was in trouble.

Then she quickly pulled herself together and asked him pointedly "How could they even know that?"

"I don't know." Tony replied. "The agent who reported this to Fury is named Evans, and if I remember correctly, her cover name is Ally Parker." He finished watching her face carefully for a reaction.

"Ally…" She repeated in disbelief her eyes once more downcast toward the floor.

"You know her?" He asked.

"Yes" she admitted once again locking eyes with him. "I met her when I came back to live here. We became close friends quickly. I was alone, and she was conveniently here, extremely nice, and completely understanding of me and my situation! My god, I just can't believe I was duped so easily." She said as she stood up, quickly moving past Tony as she started to walk to the windows. "I talked with her a lot during my pregnancy," she absently looked through the windows, her eyes obvious to the world outside as she straightened her shoulders with resolve, "It's true, I wanted to call you," she admitted, as she sighed. Tony stood up and walked towards her as she explained "I missed you, and I loved you, and I didn't want to raise our child alone. I didn't want to live the rest of my life on a farm. I had my education and my other life and I no longer felt like I belonged here. And to find myself alone, pregnant, living in my parents' house, jobless, and still hopelessly in love with a jerk."

Tony felt his heart shrink painfully in his chest at her words. He thought that he had understood what she had gone through after he forced her to leave him, but hearing her today just showed him how far he had been from the reality of her situation. She was still staring out of the window but he watched as her shoulders visibly sagged in sadness and dejection. He wanted so badly now to take her in his arms and hug her.

She suddenly turned to face him, anger quickly replacing the tears in her eyes, "I can't believe that she had manipulated me! I trusted her; I confessed to her all my feelings. And she told me that she would help me, but insisted that it was not a good idea to call you. And I believed her. She even helped to create my own startup."

"Yeah," Tony acknowledged, "it makes sense now," he started

"What do you mean?" She asked the anger in her face being replaced with confusion.

"Jarvis and I found out that Shield set up dummy accounts to keep you preoccupied with your company. And to keep you far away from me." He told her.

Her eyes widened in horror, "What the hell?!" she started her hands moving up rub at her temples in anxiety "What kind of crazy people are they?" she asked incredulous.

"I know" he admitted trying to soothe her. "I had the same reaction as you," he told her honestly.

She looked at him again, her hands dropping back down to her sides. "But I don't get it Tony. Why they would do something like that? How would keep me preoccupied and away from you benefit them?"

"They didn't want me to discover that Dane is my son." He told her truthfully.

"But why? What would it have mattered to them if you knew or not? I mean, it's not making any sense Tony! You are working for Shield; you are one of the Avengers…"

"I know, but it was easier for them if I didn't know, so I could be 100% available for them to use..." He tried to explain her but Pepper saw something in his face that she suddenly didn't like.

"There is something else isn't there…" She said approaching him "What are you not telling me?" She asked him when she came to a stop directly in front of him.

Tony looked her in the eyes, and he knew that she would not like what he had to say "They wanted to study Dane without my interference."

"Study Dane?" she repeated her eyes becoming dark with both anger and worry "What do you mean?"

"Dane is my son and they wanted to see how the arc reactor could have possibly affected him. You know from my blood tests that I have certain chemical compounds in my blood and Shield wanted to see what I would pass down to my offspring." Pepper gasped as she pulled up her hands to cover her mouth. "They have all of Dane's blood tests, IQ tests, genome sequencing, all his medical reports… They also wanted to evaluate his mental and physical abilities to see if he could be a good future recruit for Shield." He concluded holding his breath while he waited for Pepper's response.

Pepper shook her head angrily in disbelief. Tony closed the gap between them and tried to take her in his arms but she quickly slapped his arms away "Don't touch me!" she blurted out. "My god…" she said sadly, her eyes looking up at the ceiling, tears filling her eyes.

"It's going to be OK. Honey. I won't let them continue. I promise." He tried to comfort her verbally, wanting more than ever now to take her in his arms.

Pepper appeared to be slipping into a state of shock, and it didn't even register on her the term of endearment that Tony used for her. "Is Dane going to be ok?" She asked, too preoccupied now with Dane' health more than anything else.

"I hope so. I have Jarvis running more tests and double checking Shield's data right now. Jarvis will also check all of the possibilities. I'll never let anything happen to Dane." He assured her.

"I can't believe it, it sounds so crazy! He is just a child, he is just…" she began, quietly sobbing as her feelings slowly overwhelmed her.

"I know…" he said reaching out to her as he slowly took her hands in his and squeezed them gently "Pepper, honey, you have to listen to me" he said to once again get her attention. "It will not take long before Fury figures out that I hacked into Shield's files." Pepper nodded at him slowly understanding his words "I have no idea what they are going to do, but I don't trust Shield at all anymore." Pepper nodded again. "I want to get you and Dane somewhere safe until I can deal with Shield." He said gently. "And you are not safe here, surrounded by Shield agents and not knowing what Fury would ask them to do at any time."

"mmmh" was the only sound that escaped Pepper's mouth. She stood frozen before him with a far-away look in her eyes. She looked like she was going into shock.

He squeezed her hands a little harder trying to bring her back to reality "Pepper, are you alright?"

She suddenly pulled her hands from his and quickly punched him in the chest, one fist after another "It's your fault! It's your fault!" she cried out in anger and sadness. Tony didn't move and let her freely continue to hit him. "It's all your fault!" she repeated "You destroyed everything!" as her fists still hammered his chest. "We had everything and you destroyed it!" Tears started to roll down her cheeks again as she continued her assault on him.

Her two fists finally came down on his chest at in the same time and they remained here "I hate you!" she said as lowered her head onto him just above where her hands were resting with a dull thud. When her head came to rest on his chest, Tony instinctively wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. "I hate you so much" she said between tears as she continued sobbing, her head settled close to his neck.

"I know…" he whispered gently, stoking her hair with one hand and pulling her even closer with the other. "I know…" he repeated sinking his nose into her hair as he let tears escape his own eyes.


	12. Chapter 12

_Hello Everyone, _

_ I want to thanks all my remaining reviewers, you are really amazing, and with you I feel that some people at least appreciate my story. And it's a really good feeling, you can't imagine. So I want sincerely to thank you with all my heart. Anyway, I'll stop here and let you for the chapter 12 ^^ I hope you'll enjoy it. _

_As usual, a big big big big big thanks to MyCedarChest for her persistent help to correct my flaw in English and lead to a more fluent chapter and story, you are the best!_

_ And as usual, I don't own any of the marvel characters (unfortunately) Hope you'll like it, Please review, it'll make my day and it bring you the next chapter faster ^^_

**Chapter 12**

He had always hated seeing her cry, and the thought that she was crying because of him again was nearly killing him now. She had just blamed him for destroying everything, and of course, he knew she was right. Pepper had worked so hard to build a semblance of life here, and in less than 48 hours he had managed to ruin it completely... He had just asked her for the second time in their lives to quit her job, leave her friends, her home and her family… He just couldn't bear the fact that he was putting her through this hell again!

Then he felt something that he hadn't thought possible... Pepper's hands left his chest and slowly moved to the back of his neck. His heart started to pound inside his chest so fast and strong that he was quite sure she could feel it too. Her hands were now clasped around his neck tightly, pulling him closer to her. She was hugging him so hard that it was almost painful, but he didn't care and helped by pulling her even closer to him.

"Oh Tony..." She said shakily behind her tears "Why did you do that? Why did you just throw me away?" She was talking with her mouth still pressed into his t-shirt; her voice was hardly audible, further smothered by her quiet sobbing "Why did you destroy everything we had between us and everything we could have had?" Her words were slowly penetrating his brain. "It's so unfair... It was not supposed to be like that... It should have been you and me and Dane!" She finally let out a long shaky sob, burying her head even deeper in his chest as if trying to feel his body all around her.

He realized then that she was not talking about him destroying her new life, but she was talking about him destroying her life **_with_** him! The one she had been sharing with him, the one where she had gotten pregnant with his child, and the one where they should have been a family together... the one he had taken away from her 5 years ago.

"Oh Pepper... I'm... I'm..." the words got stuck in his throat as his tears fell quickly down his cheeks. "I'm so damned sorry!" He finally said.

He knew that he screwed up a lot of things in his life but forcing her to leave him was by far the worst, and at this exact moment he was quite aware of just how badly he had screwed up. As his tears continued to fall, he leaned his head down and kissed tenderly her on the top of her head "I love you! I love you so much… I don't want to lose you again… Please… I'll do everything… anything…" He begged her.

She could hear as well as feel all the sincerity and emotion in his voice as he continued to cry; he was miserable… probably every bit as much as her. But her mind continued to be a whirlwind of emotions as she tried to understand how she truly felt at this moment. Of course she loved him, yes, that much she was sure of. But, she couldn't forgive him just yet, and she certainly didn't even know if she would be able to trust him again by letting him know her true feelings about him. And oh god what about Dane! Tony's sudden appearance back in her life didn't only involve herself now, but Dane also. Dane was more important than anyone else in her life, and she knew that she would be willing to do anything for him if it meant his safety and security, even if it meant that she would be without Tony for the rest of her life.

The only answer that she was able to give Tony was a small squeeze, showing him that she understood what he was saying but that she simply couldn't verbally respond to him right now. She knew that she couldn't tell him that everything would be OK, that he would never lose her again, because she didn't know really where she stood at that moment in her life. Her mind and her heart were simply lost in the fog that was her emotions right now: love, anger, fear, betrayal all mixing together.

Suddenly they were completely overwhelmed by each other closeness. Five years of withdrawal had been utterly too long but not long enough to completely wean them from each other. Pepper felt Tony's left hand slowly sliding to the small of her back pulling her closer and sending shivers through her body. She knew that she had to stop him right now and leave his embrace, but she somehow couldn't make herself let go of him, her body being too enveloped by him; his breath next to her ear, his fingers on her back, and his scent all around her. Unable to control her own body, she began running the fingers of her left hand through the hair on the nape of his neck. She felt him shiver in response to her touch.

His right hand slowly moved up her back, passing under her hair to slowly reach the nape of her neck, tenderly massaging the bare skin there with his skilled fingers. A quiet moan unconsciously escaped her body at his touch. She had always loved it when he touched her there, and he knew it. God how she had missed his touch! She couldn't help herself as she slid her other hand up into his hair pulling a deep moan from within him. He then gently pulled her head up as he lowered his head to her neck, her chin naturally coming to rest on the top of his head. His hold on her neck tightened as his lips softly brushed the bare skin of her long neck. At the feel of his lips on her neck, she roughly tugged on his hair, and buried her face in his dark curls while doing her best to repress another moan of pleasure at his touch.

She felt his head move lower as he traced her collarbone with his lips. She tensed reflexively when he laid down his first kiss on to her shoulder. As he trailed kisses across her shoulder and back up her neck, she arched her body into his, slowly tilting her head to give his lips full access to her neck. She could feel his goatee brushing her skin, sending more shivers through her entire body. She continued to move her hands in his hair softly tugging, pulling, and massaging his scalp with her fingers, unconsciously urging him on.

She felt his gasp and he suddenly leaned his head up to hers as he brought his left hand up to Pepper's face to cup her right cheek, his thumb tenderly stroking away the few tears that remained. His hot breath on her skin was making her completely crazy now. His mouth moved close to her left ear and he half moaned, half whispered her name….not her given name but '_Pepper_' hotly into her ear. When she moaned in response, he took it as her consent to continue and he immediately started to trail kisses along her jaw aiming for her mouth. She could feel his breathing rate increase and become more erratic as he approached her mouth and she could now feel her own breath matching his.

Their movements, even their breathing were stopped suddenly by a small interrogative voice "Mommy?" as the door creaked opened slowly. Pepper pulled away from Tony so fast that she almost shoved him away from her. The door finally opened up all the way revealing Dane, standing in the doorway, clutching his teddy bear tightly, his eyes still full of sleep. It took only a second for Pepper to recover and she left Tony, walking to where Dane was standing. Tony, stood there, looking completely confused, not really aware where he was, what was happening, or even what had just happened to him.

"Hey sweetheart, you're up," Pepper knelt down, taking Dane into her arms and picking him up. She instinctively hugged him close to her, as if already missing Tony embrace.

"Yes," he answered rubbing his eyes sleepily as he leaned out of her embrace "and you're home." He teased smiling at her. She smiled back at him, one hand tenderly stroking his hair. He looked at her closely and asked in a worried voice "Mommy, have you been crying?"

She quickly wiped away the remaining tears from her cheeks "No… It's OK, sweetheart, don't worry these are happy tears."

Dane tilted his head to make sure that she was not lying, his piercing blue eyes locked on hers. Then his attention was caught by the person on his left. "Tony?" he asked as he recognized him.

"Hey buddy, how are you doing?" Tony answered in the most natural way he could give the circumstances.

Dane looked at Tony suspiciously, then turned his gaze once more to his mother, and quickly back to Tony again, but this time Tony could see anger flash in Dane eyes. "Why are you making her cry?" Dane asked in a very protective way which momentarily stunned Tony.

Tony opened his mouth but no words came out.

Pepper quickly brought her hand to Dane's face to cup his cheek gently, forcing him to look at her. "Hey, my sweet baby, it's OK, _I'm_ OK. Tony didn't do anything, don't worry." She tried to convince him.

"I don't like it, Mommy…" he said sadly reaching up to take her hand in his "I don't like it when you cry."

"I know that. And you know that I don't like it when you worry like that either." She told him. And it was true; she didn't like it at all when he would worry about her. He was just too young to worry like that. But, she couldn't blame him because it was entirely her fault. Dane was so smart and mature for his age that Pepper had begun to rely a lot on him during the last past years. And by the time she realized it, it was already too late to stop. Dane had already become empathic and overprotective when it came to her.

"I know…" he answered in defeat, then he turned his gaze to Tony again "What are you doing, here?" he asked him coldly. "The note you left me said that you wouldn't see me again for a long time."

"I…" Tony was now quickly searching what to say exactly, "I came for…"

Then Pepper cut him off "He came to invite us for vacation to his house in Malibu." She finished.

Dane turned his head to look at his mother in disbelief "A vacation?"

Pepper tried to compose herself in order to look more persuasive as she spoke again "Yeah, Tony thought that you would probably love to see his Iron Man suit and his robots…"

Tony jumped into the conversation at this point "Yeah, I thought that you'll love to meet Jarvis, my personal AI. Do you know that he could actually build you a really nice 3D holograph of an Indian 440 flat head engine? And I'm sure that could be really helpful for someone who is restoring that kind of engine." He said cracking a small smile at the last part.

Dane smiled timidly at him when he mentioned the Indian engine "Yeah the holograph would be great, and sure …but… I mean… Mom, you said that…" He started to explain as he turned to his mother again.

Pepper cut him off "What did I just tell you about you worrying?" she asked him, "I talked with Tony and I realized that it was actually a really good idea. You and I haven't been on vacation for over a year and I think we need one." She gave him a small smile to reassure him.

"But Mommy…" he whispered not at all convinced by his mother's speech.

"Come on buddy, I thought that you would like coming to visit me. I mean you were more excited when I talked to you about my workshop, Dummy, U and Jarvis yesterday when we were in your workshop than today. I'm starting to think that maybe this was a bad idea. That you finally don't want to see my workshop, or have me show you how the arc reactor and my Iron Man suit works." Tony said obviously pretending to be offended.

"No, no, it's not that…" Dane answered quickly "I'm really interested in all those things and it would be terrific to see your house but I just don't understand…" he said looking at his mom again, his eyes pleading with hers "I mean… Mommy… Yesterday you didn't know if I'll be able to see Tony again and today you want to go on a vacation to his house in Malibu… Why did you change your mind so quickly? I just don't understand!" he concluded.

Pepper tapped gently his nose as she teased him "What does that mean? That I can't change my mind?" she asked him with a smile.

"No…" he said smiling back at her as she removed her finger from his nose. "Just that I'm confused…"

"Don't be" she said stroking his hair "I told you already, you worry too much, honey."

"And did I mention that I also have a big swimming pool at my house?" Tony asked as he moved slowly towards them. Dane's eyes opened wide as a bright smile started to appear on his face "I see here. Ah yes, Am I being stupid? I should have started with the big swimming pool…" he teased as he reached them "And here I was someone who thought that you are only interested in science."

"But I **_am_**interested in science." Dane answered quickly, almost offended.

"Yeah sure, but now you look like you're really interested in my swimming pool instead…" Tony said smiling as he reached out one hand to tickle him on his side.

Pepper was amazed that Tony knew exactly how to win Dane over. Apparently he had learned a lot about Dane yesterday in Dane's workshop. Pepper smiled at Tony as he quickly looked at her for her approval.

Dane started giggling immediately "No… it's… not true" he tried to say between giggles.

Pepper joined Tony and started tickling Dane on his belly "Mmmhh if I can give my point of view here, I think that I agree with Tony… I think you are almost as interested in the swimming pool as in the robots."

Dane was convulsing, roaring with laughter caught between the hands of his parents, and not able to defend himself. Pepper's gaze drifted between her son and Tony. Tony had a huge smile plastered on his face at the sight of Dane laughing. She knew that the future for them was completely uncertain, but having this moment of true collusion with the three of them gave her a warm feeling through and though. Her feelings were confirmed when Tony suddenly locked his eyes with hers. His chocolate brown eyes were overflowing with love, his smile shifting from an amused one to a sincere one. She slowly smiled back at him. She noticed one of his hands was now moving slowly towards hers. In the second his hand finally reached hers, and their fingers entwined, she realized she now had put a name on this warm feeling of hers… It was… **_hope_**…


	13. Chapter 13

_Hello Everyone,_

_I'm so so so so so so so so so so sorry! It took me long time to update but I have a good explanation (that you probably don't care because you only focus on the fact that the chapter came late lol). I got a really crazy week at work, working from 7 am to 10 pm almost every single day of the last week, even the week end (yes, slavery had been abolished but apparently not when you have a big deadline to manage ^^)._

_Anyway, I'll stop to tell you my life, and I let you with this chapter 13… Finally, I manage to do a long one, to making up to you for the late ;) Hope you'll like it and please reviews ^^ Hope you'll not punish me by not reviewing this chapter._

_I'll do my best to post the 14 asap…_

_Before leaving you, again a big thanks to MyCedarChest for the reviewing ;)_

_Enjoy :P_

**Chapter 13**

"Virginia!" Edna's voice resonated throughout Pepper's bedroom. At the sudden sound of her mother's voice, Pepper abruptly let go of Tony's hand. "Anna is on the phone." Her mother called out.

Fear filled Pepper's eyes as she turned quickly to face Tony. Tony tried to give her a reassuring look.

"Oh no!" Dane started, sounding worried.

Pepper shifted her gaze to her son "What happened sweetie?"

Dane sighed "I'm sure Anna is calling you to tell you what I did this morning."

"And what did you do this morning?" Pepper asked

"Just that I didn't want take the test that she brought to me again," Dane explained.

"A test? What kind?" Tony asked concerned.

"A really boring one, where I have to answer some logic questions. It's way too easy and completely useless and that is exactly what I told her," Dane said firmly, his gaze now drifting to the floor, "And that's probably why she is calling now." He concluded.

"Mmh," Pepper said not convinced at all that that was what Anna was calling about, "Don't worry about refusing to take the test, honey." Then she looked at Tony again and she seemed to understand exactly what he wanted her to do about Anna. She opened the door and answered her mom, "Tell her that I'm in the shower and I'll call her back as soon as possible."

"Ok!" Edna answered from the first floor.

Pepper closed the door again and set Dane back down on the floor. "Ok, sweetheart, you'll have to pack what you want to take to go to Tony's house."

"Now?" Dane asked in disbelief "When are we leaving?"

Pepper looked at Tony waiting for the answer to Dane's question. "I called the private SI jet in NYC before leaving the Stark tower. I asked the pilot to pick us up at the Norfolk International Airport, so the jet should be there in about 2 hours." Tony explained looking at his watch to confirm the jet's schedule.

"OK, so you see, you have to hurry up, honey." Pepper told Dane quietly, stroking his dark hair.

"OK," Dane said somewhat skeptically as he turned to walk away from her. He opened the door and looked back at his mom "But something about all of this isn't right!" then he left the room heading for his bedroom.

Pepper sighed and turned to Tony. "He **is **really smart" Tony commented smiling at her.

"Yeah, he is just like…" Then she stopped suddenly, not wanting to finish her sentence.

Tony smiled gently at her and immediately changed the subject to order to lessen the sudden tension in the room "OK, I guess you realize that your mom needs to pack her stuff too. You know we can't leave her alone here."

Pepper winced, "Yeah,"

"Do you want me to come with you to help explain the situation to her?" Tony asked.

She took a minute to think about it and then answered "No, I'll go to talk to her alone, it's better that way." She headed to the door then turned back to Tony, "Can you go help Dane pack his things?" she asked, as a bright smile appeared on Tony's face in response to her question. "I know that you are probably not much better than him at packing, but he'll need a little help anyway." She smiled softly back at him.

"Sure, I'll do it," he said sounding just like an impatient four year old himself "And besides, I'm not so bad at packing," he added as he walked over to join her at the door. "Don't you remember the surprise vacation that I organized in the Caribbean for us?" he asked using his most charming smile on her.

"Yeah, I do seem to remember that you forgot almost everything, and that we barely had anything to wear." She pointed out teasingly.

"Yeah, that was the point" his smile brighter than before "And as I recall we ended up not needing any clothes actually, so we can conclude from that trip that I do know how to pack!" he said suddenly very proud of himself.

Pepper shook her head but was not able to hold back a smile realizing just how alike Tony and Dane really were, "Anyway, just try to do your best, and I'll double check his bag when you're finished just to be sure." She said as she started to walk down the hallway towards the stairs, Tony following her, "This is Dane's room" she pointed as they stopped in front of a bedroom door. "I'll go talk to mom, and I'll join you when I'm finished talking with her. So please wait for me in Dane's room." She told him.

"No problem. We'll do a good job with packing, you'll see. You'll be proud of us." He told her in his usual confident tone.

Pepper froze at his words, lost in his sincere chocolate brown eyes and hypnotized by his smile. Tony noticed it and his smile faded slowly on his face, worried about what was hiding behind Pepper's now changed expression. They were both transfixed on their spot, gazing deeply into one another's eyes. After a few seconds, Pepper broke the silence "I'm _almost_ always proud of you." She said then turned away from him quickly and headed for the stairs.

It took few seconds to Tony to process Pepper's words, and when it finally clicked in his head, it was too late; she was already halfway down the stairs. When she left his field of vision, he sighed and turned towards Dane's door. He knocked on it softly and opened it.

"Hey" he said as he spotted Dane sitting on his bed staring intents at his closet "Do you need some help?" he asked.

Dane turned to Tony and looked at him incredulously"Yeah, I really need some help in figuring out what's really going on." Dane said bluntly.

Tony closed the door behind him slowly, playing for a little extra time, as he tried to figure out what to say. He walked closer to Dane and sat next to him on the bed. "You don't like the vacation plans that we made, do you?" Tony started.

"Tony, I'm maybe just a kid, but I am smart enough to know that everything that is happening is weird." Dane said, "Yesterday, mommy didn't even want to talk to you and today she wants to go on a vacation with you, and to your house!" Dane stated.

_You better believe it's weird, kid_' Tony thought. "It's more complicated than that," Tony tried to explain.

"Yeah and next you'll tell me that I'm too young to understand." Dane said anticipating Tony's reply.

'_OK, he is definitely Pepper's son alright_' Tony thought. Tony paused and tried to find a way to talk to Dane that would better explain the situation but not give too much away right now. "Well, listen… I'm not going to lie to you," Tony started looking Dane straight in the eyes "This is going to be something more than a simple vacation but I can't tell you what exactly right now." Dane was listening to him, his full attention on Tony's next words, "The only thing that I can tell you is that going away for a short time is really important for you and your mother's safety." Tony concluded.

Dane tensed right away "Is she in danger?" he asked in worried voice.

"I don't know for sure yet, but there is a possibility." Tony then saw real fear in Dane's eyes "But don't worry, I'll never let anything happen to her or to you." He said trying to pour all of his heart into his words.

"Why are you going to protect us?" Dane asked.

"Because I care so much about the both of you," Tony stated simply, hoping Dane would understand his sincerity.

"But why?" Dane asked again. Tony sighed heavily not knowing what else to say in order to answer his question. After several seconds of silence Dane added "I don't understand Tony. You've only known me since yesterday and it seems that you haven't seen mom for a really long time. And suddenly now you want to protect us because you say that you care so much about us? Ok, it's really good that you want to help us, but I think that you are hiding something from me and I just don't like it."

Tony reached out and pulled Dane gently onto his lap very grateful that Dane did not resist. "You are really too observant and smart for your age, kiddo." He teased him and he looked down at him and smiled broadly. Dane smiled proudly back at Tony. "I know that you want to understand and I promise you that you will… soon… But I just can't tell you any more. That will be up to your mom." Tony could see the disappointment on Dane's face. Dane looked quickly away from him. Tony put one finger under his chin and gently turned Dane's head back around to look at him once again. "Trust me, OK?"

Dane nodded slowly. Tony cracked a smile and added "Don't worry I'll take care of you both. You just need to focus on the swimming pool and your future meeting with my robots."

At the mention of the robots, Dane finally smiled, "Yeah, OK. But I still want to know the whole story."

Tony smiled back at him thinking just how much Dane was just like his mother when it came to negotiations. "I know that, and I also know you won't forget to remind me that I told you would know as soon as possible. Right now we need to focus on you packing up before we both end up in trouble with your mom. So just think about the good things that you'll see in my home, and later on, we'll have a serious talk and explain everything. Deal?" Tony asked holding out his right hand to Dane.

Dane reached out to take Tony's hand and they shook in agreement. "OK, deal!"

As Dane continued to shake his hand, Tony made a face at him "My god you've got some kinda strength in that grip of yours, buddy" he said faking pain.

Dane burst into laughter. Tony couldn't stop grinning as he watched him laugh. He finally stood up, picking Dane up in his arms as he did so and walked towards Dane's dresser. "Ok, so let's see what you need," Tony started.

"A swimsuit!" Dane replied quickly almost yelling.

This time, it was Tony who burst into laughter, and Dane began giggling right along with him.

In the meantime, Pepper had found her mother who was finishing preparing diner in the kitchen. She had her back to the door, focusing her eyes on the pan in front of her on the stove.

"Hey mom," Pepper said softly.

Edna turned her head to look at her daughter "Hey sweetheart,"

Pepper was worried and she was sure that her mother could see it on her face. In her mind she tried to figure out the best way to tell her mom that they would all have to go to Tony's house. The one thing that she did know for sure was her mother's reaction: she would not be happy at all.

"Is everything's all right, Ginny?" Edna asked concerned now at the expression on Pepper's face.

Edna's voice brought Pepper back to the moment. "Yeah…" then she nodded, then quickly shook her head "Well, actually, not really." Pepper finally admitted.

Edna started to worry suddenly and assailed Pepper with questions. "What happened? It's Tony, isn't it? Is he giving you hard time? Is he trying to force you to see him again? Is he wanting to come back in your life no matter what now?"

Pepper tried to stop her tirade "No, no, no Mom. It's not that at all," she started but Edna cut her off quickly.

"Oh my god!" Edna cried out "He wants to take Dane! That's it, isn't it?"

"Nooooooooo" Pepper said loudly in disbelief, "You're mistaken, Mom, he would never do that. Tony is certainly not a perfect person, but he would never do such a thing. How could you even imagine that?" Pepper said almost offended at her mother's accusation.

"I'm sorry Ginny, but I know that you've been talking to him just now, and here you come back to me looking like the walking dead telling me that's something wrong. So I have no choice but to imagine the worst." Edna justified herself.

Pepper suddenly felt sorry for her mom. And from her mom's point of view her version of reality couldn't possibly be anything other than worst case scenario considering her and Tony's past history.

"So, what happened?" her mother quietly urged her after taking a few calming breaths.

"Yeah, well, OK… Listen, Tony found out that we, mostly Dane are probably in danger." Pepper could see her mother visibly tense at her words "He want to help us and protect us but it's best if we went to his house in Malibu for a short time. His house is much more secured and protected than this place." Pepper explained hoping that her mom could see the sound reasoning behind the decision to leave.

"And you believed him?" Edna said in disbelief.

"What do you mean?" Pepper asked.

"Come on Virginia. Don't be so stupid. We have been fine for 5 years! And now he comes back, finds out about Dane, and all of a sudden we are all in danger and we need to go to his house? Please! Don't you think that story about being in danger is too convenient for him?" Edna said in an angry tone.

"No, you're completely wrong mom! This is not part of a scheming plan for him to take us back. He has proof, and trust me it's real." Pepper explained.

"Really, Ginny? And what proof does he have? Please amaze me!" Edna said wryly.

"Mom, please. Stop this. You could at least trust me here." Pepper almost begged.

"I'm sorry honey, but I don't trust your judgment at all when it comes to Tony Stark." Edna stated.

Pepper sighed gazing at the floor. She should be angry at her mom for her words but instead she felt sad, tears now filling her eyes. Sad to not be able to convince her about the danger, sad to even be in this situation, sad that her mom hated Tony, sad that she blamed him for everything and anything, sad to see her life…she sighed heavily trying to stop this train of thought as she wiped her tears away.

"Ok, I'm sorry, honey," Edna started seeing how emotional Pepper was at the moment and she walked closer to Pepper "Listen, it's not that I don't want to believe you or that I don't want to understand, it's just that I'm afraid. Everything Tony says is too convenient, and I just don't want him to get you back in his life with lies." Edna said as she touched Pepper's arm softly trying her best to comfort her.

Pepper looked at her mom and sniffed once "I do understand your point of view but believe me, what he's telling me is the truth. Tony found out that people from a secret governmental agency called Shield knew about Dane being Tony's son." Edna was now listening carefully as Pepper gave her the details. "You know that Tony has this arc reactor in his chest which is keeping him alive," Edna nodded "Well, Shield found out that Tony may have passed down some of the chemical components of his arc down to Dane."

"How is this possible? I don't understand?" Edna asked impatiently.

"I'm not sure either mom, but all we do know is that Dane has been tested in secret by Shield. And they had kept Tony in the dark about me being pregnant and having Dane in order to study Dane without Tony's interference, knowing that Tony would have never allowed the testing." Pepper noticed that Edna winced at her words. "The worst part is that Shield had their agents everywhere around us since before Dane was born." Pepper added.

"What do you mean by everywhere around us?" Edna asked.

"Anna, Ally, some of my coworkers, and probably a lot more people than we know about." Pepper said.

Edna gasped and brought her hand to her mouth in both fear and anger.

"Yes I understand how you feel, mom," Pepper said "Tony wants us all to leave as soon as possible, because Shield will figure out soon enough that Tony has found out everything that they have done to all of us. And when they do find out, Tony has no idea about what they are going to do to us." Edna nodded slowly "After hearing all of this, I thought we should listen to him." Pepper concluded.

"I can't believe it…" Edna said completely shocked.

"Yeah, me neither, mom" Pepper told her "I just don't feel safe here anymore, and even with all that has happened between Tony and I, I have to say that when it does comes to security, I do trust Tony and I feel really safe with him. Tony is the most competent person I know that can fix our situation. And I really don't want to put Dane in any danger because of the bitterness I held for Tony."

Edna couldn't do anything other than nod in agreement at her last statement.

"We are leaving in one hour. We need to meet the SI jet at Norfolk International Airport in less than two hours." Pepper stated.

"OK," said Edna.

"Please pack what you need for at least a few days. I'll go to pack some stuff for me and Dane right now. We really need to leave this house as soon as possible." Pepper said to her mom as she headed towards the stairs. She stopped suddenly when she heard a sob behind her.

She turned to find her mom crying. She walked quickly over to her and hugged her. "Hey, we'll be ok, don't worry. Tony won't let anything happen to any of us." Pepper tried to reassure her mom.

"Yeah I know sweetheart, it's not that…" her mom said "Just because I wanted to protect you and Dane, I did everything to keep Tony away from you, and by doing that I probably put you in even more danger."

"No, don't do that! Don't blame yourself for something that you couldn't have possibly known. We all made mistakes. But now the most important thing is Dane's safety. We'll sort out the other details later on."

"Yeah, you're probably right" Edna said wiping away the tears from her eyes and pulling away from Pepper. "I'll go pack up diner for us to have on the plane and then I'll go pack my stuff. Go on now and get everything for Dane and you." Edna concluded as she turned back to the stove.

"Thank you mom." Pepper said as she headed towards the stairs again. She knew that it was hard for her mom, probably even harder than for her because Pepper was only worried for Dane, but Edna was worried for Dane and Pepper and she couldn't do anything to help. However, this was Pepper's decision, not hers. She could give her opinion, but in the end, it was Pepper who would have the last word. And Pepper knew that being only a spectator when this decision impacted the two most important people in your life, was more than hard for Edna!

Pepper walked slowly down the hallway towards Dane's bedroom. She could hear two low voices behind the door but couldn't understand what exactly they were saying. So she slowly opened the door being careful to not make any noise so they wouldn't hear her come in the room. She quickly spotted Tony and Dane laying on the floor in front of the remote control car that Dane got last Christmas.

"Yeah definitely, we could change out the motor completely and gain a lot in speed." Tony said.

"I knew that," Dane said smiling "I wanted to add a high RPM motor featuring a higher KV stator that's been wound with a low-resistance red wire for faster speeds, and vented end bells for cooler operation." Dane said proudly having thought out his improvements in detail.

"Yep," Tony said obviously impressed as he turned his head slightly so he could look at the car from a different angle "I think that would work nicely."

"Yeah, but mommy said it's too expensive being that it's only for a remote control car." Dane said sadly.

Tony laughed ruffing up Dane's dark curls with one hand. "Don't worry about that buddy, we'll manage to come up with something back at home, you'll see."

Pepper saw the smile come back on Dane's lips immediately.

Pepper couldn't do anything other than smile at the very evident _camaraderie_already between them. She had caught Tony's unconscious use of the word 'home' too. For many years the Malibu mansion had been her home and it had hurt her badly to leave it. And now the possibility that it would soon be Dane's home suddenly caused her heart to clinch. She steadied herself and then cleared her throat once, just to let them both know she was in the room with them. "Yeah, and mommy said 'no' because she doesn't want her little baby boy to become a spoiled rotten child who doesn't know the value of things." She said smiling at them behind the harsh words, letting them know she was partly teasing.

Tony stood up quickly when he saw Pepper, hands to the sky as if surrendering to her, "And I'll never go against a 'mommy' decision." Tony said smiling at her.

Dane sighed heavily as he stood up too. "That's so unfair, I'm not a spoiled rotten child!" he said sadly.

"No, you're not, sweetheart," Pepper said as she reached out, pulling him into her arms and kissing him on the top of his head. "So what about your packing? Is it all done?" she asked as she let go of Dane, then looking down at Dane and then over at Tony in expectation of an explanation.

Tony looked at Dane, hoping to find a little help from him, and then quickly looked back at Pepper with a sheepish expression "I'm sorry, but it seems we got a little distracted by the car." Tony said honestly, actual shame crossing his face at the admission.

Pepper shook her head "OK… So you didn't even pack one thing?" Pepper asked looking and both of them sternly and tapping her foot impatiently.

And suddenly Tony and Dane answered proudly at the same time "Yes, the swim suit!" and then they both burst into laugher together.


	14. Chapter 14

_Hello Everyone,_

_I'm so so so so so so so so so so sorry! AGAIN! Yeah I know, but this time it is not entirely my fault. J_ _This chapter was ready since more than one week but we got difficulties to catch up with my dear MyCedarChest for the reviewing. She went in spring break and when she finally went through the chapter on Thursday, I was in Lebanon for work for 5 days. Anyway, I went back 3 hours ago (my planned landed exactly 4 hours ago) and first thing I do after the shower and the suitcase is to post you this chapter!_

_I hope you'll like it, and I really sorry for the bad timing, if you'll all still motivate by the story let me know by review and if you are nice and a lot I'll post the next chapter very fast, I promise!_

_Enjoy :P_

**Chapter 14**

In less than one hour they were ready to leave the Potts' farm just as the sun was starting to set. Tony was putting their suitcases and bags in the back of the Edna's Dodge Ram as Pepper was buckling Dane into his safety seat on the back bench seat. Tony had told her earlier that he was going to have his suit shadow them on the drive into the airport and then escort them to California, just to be on the safe side, and Pepper couldn't keep herself from looking skyward as she finished up with Dane. Edna had gone to finish locking up the house and she had just closed and locked the front door. But instead of coming right back to the truck, Pepper noticed that her mom was now just standing in front of the house looking back at the front door. When Pepper was done with Dane, she noticed that her mom was still in the same place and still staring at the house. She looked at Tony who nodded silently towards the house and Edna as he went to take place in the driver seat.

Edna was lost in her thoughts when she felt Pepper's arms wrap around her shoulders. She turned her head towards Pepper and smiled slowly at her daughter. They stood together in silence both staring at the house for a few minutes more. Pepper knew that it was not easy for her mom to leave her home behind her. The future was so unsure and Edna knew it. She didn't know how long it would be before she would see her home again. And there was also a possibility that she might never see it at all given that it was an obvious militant government agency that would be the ones to decide what they would or wouldn't do to her family's farm. Edna suppressed a shudder at the thought of Shield burning down her home.

"What are they doing?" Dane asked curiously from the back seat of the car.

The question was simple but the answer wasn't. "They are just taking a little time for them," Tony tried to explain. Suddenly Pepper and her mom turned around and began walking back to the truck. "Look here they come now." he added.

Looking at the expression on his Grandma's face as she walked towards the truck Dane said "We definitely don't really go on vacation, do we?" Dane asked him quietly.

Tony just gave a sigh as an answer and Dane turned his gaze back to his mother and grandmother who were now approaching the truck.

Pepper's arm was still around the shoulders of her mom "Are you sure you'll be ok?" She asked gently.

Edna stopped and tenderly took Pepper's hands in hers "I will, don't worry about me, honey. You have much more important things to deal with now." She said looking at the truck where Dane and Tony sat watching them both with a curious intensity.

Pepper followed her mom's gaze and smiled slowly, then sighed as she turned back to look at her mom. "I know. But I'm also worried about you, mom. I mean everything that happening is a lot for you to deal with too you know."

Edna smiled like the knowing mom she was, and gently caressed Pepper's cheek "I love you sweetie, I love you and I love Dane. And anytime you are both happy and healthy, I'm the happiest person in the world."

Pepper smiled back at her knowing that her mom was probably not telling her all her true feelings "Thank you mom." Pepper said as Edna leaned over to place a kiss on her cheek.

They finally finished their walk to the truck. Pepper went to sit in the front passenger seat next to Tony and Edna sat next to Dane in the back seat. The ride to the airport was filled with an awkward silence. Tony didn't know what to say, or more importantly what he was actually suppose or allowed to say given his current precarious position within the Potts family. Every few minutes, he would look at Pepper as if trying to figure out what to say to her.

As she sat there next to Tony, Pepper did everything she could to avoid Tony gaze, looking at him only when she was sure that he was not looking at her because of the traffic. She noticed that his face held many emotions: happiness, love, fear, sadness. But overall, his expression was one of extreme seriousness. In all the time she had known him she had rarely seen him so serious. And when his eyes drifted again to her, she quickly turned her head to gaze outside the truck, suddenly afraid to meet his eyes. She knew she couldn't help herself, but every time she looked into his eyes, she could feel her heart rate increase rapidly. She wondered kiddingly how silly it would look if she died of a heart attack before she was forty because of those gorgeous bourbon eyes of his. As they continued to drive she also continued to glance at the back seat to find Dane still sound asleep just as he had been since the first 10 minutes of the drive.

Unnoticed by either Pepper or Tony Edna was observing them silently. She could see both of them looking at each other at regular intervals, but never at the same time. It was very obvious to her that they loved each other, just as they always have for years now. She couldn't help herself but wonder why it had always to be so hard for them to simply just love each other. After all it had taken them over 10 years to finally give in to their mutual feelings. And just when they appeared to have a 'happy ever after' relationship, first the aliens came and, then the bad guys who almost killed her daughter. And Edna was sure that she would never know all the details about the dangers that her daughter faced living with Iron Man because Pepper had always wanted to make sure that she protected her mom from her crazy life with Tony Stark! And even if Pepper and Tony hadn't realize it yet, Edna knew that now everything had changed for all of them forever. Edna had known it when Tony had knocked on her door two days ago. She knew that no matter what would happen, no matter what Shield did either for them or to them, no matter what Pepper would decide, everything had now changed! But were these changes for the best or the worst? She didn't know the answers to those questions yet, but the one thing that she was sure of was that, her life as she knew it, with Dane and Pepper living with her was now over! Her eyes moved from Tony's profile to look over at Dane who was still peacefully sleeping away, and noticed just much Dane resembled his father. Edna had felt bad about helping to keep Tony from knowing who Dane's father was at first. But she knew that she would do anything, even lie, in order to protect Pepper and Dane.

Edna wiped away a single tear that had rolled down her cheek in the darkness as evening fell and their truck entered the airport area. Pepper finally met Tony eyes in the dim light of the truck's cab when he turned onto a lighted road that was forbidden to the public. Tony caught the question in her eyes as he returned her quick gaze and he finally broke the stress-charged silence which had enveloped them since their departure from the Pott's farm house "We're not headed to the public terminal," he said as he turned left at the next intersection, "I don't want us to be spotted," he explained.

"But don't you think that the airport employees are going to say something when they see us board the jet?" she asked concerned.

"There are only a few people that are aware that we are taking the jet tonight and I plan on leaving as fast as we can in order for it to stay that way." He said calmly.

"Yes, but Fury is not stupid. Once he finds out about Jarvis hacking Shield, I'm sure he'll know how to trace your jet." Pepper argued.

"Yeah, you're right," he acknowledged, then gave her his best genius smile "How stupid do you think I am?"

Pepper rolled her eyes at his comment "I just wanted to be sure that you know what you are doing." She stated flatly. "It's not just you and I that are involved now."

His smile faded on his lips when he heard Pepper's serious, worried tone "Don't worry, everything is under control. First, I estimate that it will be at least 18 to 24 hours before Shield figures out that I'm involved in the security breach. Second, if by some, slim chance Fury figured it out before we get to Malibu, Jarvis laid down a lot of virus bread crumbs in Shield system that will whack all of their tracing data, third all the people that are involved in your rescue, that being me of course are 100% trustworthy. And lastly, and I hoping that we won't need the help, I still have the suit shadowing us so we can get it to distract and divert any welcoming committee at the airport while we slip out and drive to the mansion." Pepper frowned at the mention of the suit and Tony noticed it quickly. "But just don't worry about that right now, I'm sure we'll be safely inside the Malibu mansion before Shield even figures out that we left your house."

Pepper nodded slowly. "What about Anna?" Edna's voice echoed from the back of the car.

Her voice actually startled Pepper suddenly not remembering that she and Dane were with them in the car. "What do you mean, Mom?"

"She called before we left. Don't you remember? You told me that you'll call her back. Isn't she supposed to be a Shield agent?" asked Edna.

"Yes, she is." confirmed Tony, talking to Edna.

"You know that Pepper **never** forgets to call someone back," Tony smiled at Edna's statement, knowing how organized Pepper had always been. Pepper just rolled her eyes at her mother "She'll probably find this strange and notify her superiors or even drive out to the farm first thing in the morning." Edna continued to explain.

Pepper looked at Tony, waiting for his assessment of Edna's words. Tony thought about it for several seconds. "You are right, Mrs. Potts. I didn't think about that." He said to Edna in the most polite tone he could come up with and then glanced over at Pepper "I guess you'll have to call her back when we're on board the jet."

"What you want me to tell her?" Pepper asked with just a little stress in her voice.

"Is she supposed to come for Dane tomorrow?" Tony asked.

"Yes, she comes for him every day except for the weekends." Pepper said.

"Well, we have to keep her away from your house for at least tomorrow. Tell her that you noticed that Dane is not is not feeling well and that he is running a low grade fever and is very cranky. Tell her that you want to keep him at home tomorrow and see if he feels better. So you'll take a day off at work and keep him at home with you. If she talks to you about the tests and anything else about Dane, try to answer her as you would do if you didn't know that she was a Shield agent. Just try to be natural with her." Tony suggested. "Do you think you can do it?" he finally asked.

Pepper nodded "Fine, I will call her once we get settled on board."

"OK, perfect." Tony concluded as he parked the truck next to a private tarmac where Pepper happily recognized the SI jet. Tony motioned for them to stay put and he got out of the car, walking quickly over to talk with an SI employee who was standing next to the boarding stairs. After few minutes of discussion, he turned to look at Pepper and nodded slowly smiling as her.

"OK, we can go," she said to her mother. Both women got out of the car as Tony and the SI employee walked to the back of the truck for their luggage. Pepper opened the back door and starting unbuckling Dane who moaned quietly at her touch.

"Hey, sweetheart, we are at the airport." She spoke quietly as she carded the fingers of her hand through his now messy hair.

Dane blinked two or three times trying to adjust his sleepy eyes to the dim light in the back seat of the truck. "We're already here?" he asked in disbelief.

Pepper laughed gently as she picked Dane up and carried him out of the truck. "Yes, dormouse, you slept almost the entire trip."

Dane frowned at his mother comments. Tony walked around the truck to join them as the SI employee walked away carrying the luggage towards the cargo hold of the jet. "Hey buddy, you're awake" Tony said smiling at Dane.

Dane mumbled something inaudible which made both Pepper and Tony laugh. "He reminds me of someone when he is like that when he wakes up." Pepper said still laughing as she turned to stare at Tony.

Tony gasped, pretending to be offended "I have no clue about what you're talking about." He said smiling again at her.

Dane was completely lost in their conversation. "Who do I remind you of?" He asked immediately stopping Pepper's laughter.

Pepper and Tony stared at each other for few seconds, obviously at a loss of what to answer. Edna suddenly reached out and took Dane out of Pepper's arms. "For sure you remind them of your grandma! And she hates being woken up by rude people who laugh at you when you have your eyes barely open." She said as she hugged Dane as he smiled up at her. "Are we going on board the jet or not?" Edna asked, trying to change the subject quickly.

Tony shook slightly his head quickly pulling his thoughts together, "Yes we are." he said as he turned with a suitcase in his hand and a carry-on bag slung over his shoulder, and started to walk quickly towards the jet "Follow me."

Dane smiled visibly, excited about boarding the jet and he started to squirm in Edna's arms, turning to watch Tony who was walking away from them fast. Edna smiled and immediately set Dane down on the concrete "Go ahead, you restless boy!" she told him as he started to run towards Tony.

Dane caught Tony's free hand, who then jumped slightly at the unexpected contact. Tony immediately looked down at Dane, who was now securely holding on to his hand and looking around visibly amazed at everything. A bright smile suddenly lit up Tony's face as he resumed walking towards the jet, now proudly holding his son' small hand in his large one.

Pepper and her mother were walking a few feet behind them as they approached the jet. Pepper was closely watching her two men in front of her, a small smile clinging to her lips, her heart suddenly warmed with a good feeling. Edna glanced at her daughter as they continued to walk, noting the smile on her face, and she followed her daughter's gaze to look up at Dane and Tony as they held hands. "Dane seems to like him." Edna stated matter-of-factly.

"mmmhhhhh" was the only sound that came from Pepper who was still staring at Dane and Tony and lost deeply in her own thoughts.

"You'll have to be more careful, sweetie," Edna started, then stopped when she realized that Pepper was barely listening to her. She reached out to put her hand on Pepper's shoulder which then quickly brought Pepper back to reality.

"What?" Pepper asked, now looking at her mother.

Edna shook her head slightly "I was just telling you to be more careful. Dane is not stupid, he will figure out soon if you two keep going on like that." Edna explained to her.

"Yeah, you are right," Pepper sighed "By the way, thank you for the helping hand earlier." Pepper said smiling at her mother.

"You're welcome. But I really think you should talk to Dane really soon to let him know about Tony." Edna stated.

"You're probably right, but I want to take my time" Pepper said staring again at Tony and Dane in front of them.

"Why?" Edna asked.

"Mom, weren't you the one who didn't want me to tell Dane about Tony ever? And now suddenly you want me to tell him right away? Please just let me enjoy a little of the small amount of happiness that I can have for the moment. The bad things in life will be on top of us soon enough!" Pepper answered almost harshly.

"I don't mean to rush you Ginny. I just wanted to point out to you that the more Dane spends time with you both, the more there is a chance that he'll figure it out by himself. Especially when you make comments about him resembling Tony like you did earlier. And I'm not sure you want him to find out that Tony is his father on his own." Edna explained patiently.

"Yeah, I know you're right mom," Pepper said quietly as they began climbing the boarding stairs "I really do know. But right now too many thoughts are fighting inside my head trying to get out now. I don't even know where I'm standing with Tony at the moment, and I just don't want to add Dane in the equation for now."

"I know Ginny, but unfortunately, he is already part of the equation now whether you want it or not." Edna observed.

Pepper sighed sadly "I know, mom… I know…" she said as they arrived at the top of the boarding stairs, in front of the jet's front hatch, to find Dane and Tony waiting for them on either side of the open hatch.

"Ladies, first!" Tony and Dane said at the same time as they saluted Pepper and Edna as they walked between them.

Pepper couldn't hold back a smile, "My god, we seem to have some real gentlemen, here, don't we, Mom?" she said looking at Tony then at Dane. Dane gave her a proud smile. Pepper put her hand on the top of his head and gently began to guide him inside the cabin. "Come on, honey, let's go get you buckled in for take-off."

"Can I be next to the window, p-l-e-a-s-e?" Dane asked quickly begging hard.

"Of course you can, sweetheart," Pepper answered smiling at him and pointing him to a seat next to a window.

"Terrific!" he exclaimed as Pepper started to put his seat belt on, adjusting it down to fit him securely.

Tony who was still at the front hatchway of the plane couldn't help but smile as he looked at them. Edna was still next to him and watched Pepper and Dane at the same time, turning then to look at Tony. "They are all I have," she started as he turned his attention instantly to her "So please, don't hurt them."

Tony looked sincerely at Edna "They are all I have too." Tony said somberly "I know that I'm not the type of guy that you pictured for your daughter." He explained gazinf at her with all the sincerity he had "And you are probably right. She can do so much better than me." Tony continued sadly "But I love her…and Dane more than anything else, more than my own life even. And I'll do anything and everything for their happiness, believe me. Even if it means, leave them if Pepper asks…" He concluded, struggling now to talk, tears clearly in his throat.

Edna squeezed his hand gently, "That's all I needed to hear Tony. And I believe you." Edna told him, giving him a reassuring smile.

Tony smiled back and nodded slowly to her before turning his gaze back to Pepper and Dane. He had told Edna the truth. All he really wanted for them was their happiness, but he was also praying too that their happiness would also involve him sharing their life, but this decision was not his…


	15. Chapter 15

_Hello my dear fellow,_

_As promised and as you really deserved here is the new chapter. We tried our best to deliver it to you asap. MyCedarChest did a perfect job and reviewed it in less than 12 hours! You are the best!_

_Anyway, here is the chapter 15, I hope you'll like it. You know what I was thinking yesterday? If all the people who added this story to their favorite or their alert, let a little review for this chapter we could reach the 300 review for the chapter 15! Which could be really amazing! If you do that, I'll be really really happy._

_Thank you again to follow me in this story, and enjoy…_

**Chapter 15:**

Once Pepper had buckled Dane into his seat she left him with Edna and walked back to the galley area of the plane to call Anna so Dane wouldn't be able to hear her conversation. She had given Anna a very convincing story about Dane being ill, and Anna ended the call saying that she would check up on Dane tomorrow evening. Tony had assured Pepper that Jarvis had bounced her cell phone's signal around which meant that if Shield became suspicious for whatever reason and tried to triangulate her cell signal, it would appear to have originated from the Potts' farm.

After the call to Anna, the plane immediately taxied down the runway amid all of the traffic safety lights and quickly took off. Pepper watched Dane with curiosity as he stared out the window intently. Dane was every excited during takeoff, but as soon as the plane reached cruising altitude and speed, she could tell that he had started to get a little bored…just like someone else she knew, she thought with a small smile.

"How long will it take to get to California?" he asked, turning towards her in his seat.

"Around 4 hours, honey," Pepper said ruffling his dark hair.

"What do you say we eat dinner now?" Edna proposed leaning towards Dane.

"Oh, yes! I'm starving!" Dane exclaimed suddenly aware of his empty stomach.

Pepper smiled at her son's reaction. Dane was always happy at the mention of food. _He reminds her so much_… Her thoughts and her gaze turning to Tony who was sitting in a seat as far away from them as possible but still be in the same cabin with them, intently discussing something with Jarvis, his smart tablet in his hands.

Edna unbuckled her seat belt and stood up, cautiously walking through the cabin obviously not at all used to flying. She reached up to pull the stowed bag in which she packed the food down from a secured rack. She then cautiously carried the bag over to the bench style table near the galley and started to place the food on the table in between four seats.

Dane quickly unbuckled his seat belt and scrambled out of his seat, not slowing down at all to get his 'air legs'. Pepper suddenly realized that Dane appeared to be as comfortable in the air as he was on the ground. She absolutely refused to think about the future repercussions of this 'skill' of Dane's.

"Mashed potatoes!" exclaimed Dane plopping down into the closest seat at the table. "Nice!"

Pepper followed Dane and adjusted the safety belts on Dane's new seat and buckled him in securely. She was always cautious while flying, and even though the SI pilots had predicted smooth air the entire flight, she would not take chances with Dane's safety. Dane didn't seem to mind at all being strapped into the seat.

Pepper took her seat next to Dane and across from her mother as they smiled at the same time, always amazed and amused by Dane spontaneity. "I knew you'd like it, sweetheart," Edna said scooping up a big spoonful of mashed potatoes and placing them on a plate. "I cooked them especially for you."

"Thank you Grandma! You're the best!" he said excitedly, a huge smile now lighting up his entire face.

Edna smiled back at him as she was putting his plate in front of him after adding pork roast and green beans; then she served Pepper and herself. Pepper thanked her mother when she received her plate and looked instinctively at Tony who was still working on his tablet. Edna noticed her daughter's gaze and cleared her throat nosily.

"Tony?" Edna called out across the cabin to him. Pepper turned her head to her mother in surprise. Tony looked up at Edna in disbelief that she was actually talking to him instead of yelling at him, waiting for her to continue. "Do you want to join us for dinner?" she then asked politely.

Tony face suddenly lit up in a bright smile which was an exact copy of Dane's earlier one "Sure," he replied setting the tablet down and quickly getting to his feet. "I mean if there is enough food." he qualified cautiously.

"Don't worry, Mom always makes too much food," Pepper said as he walked towards them, actually welcoming him to the table.

Tony sat next to Edna with Pepper and Dane in front of him. "I hope you like mashed potatoes, green beans, and pork roast," Edna said giving him a plate.

Tony nodded "I do very much, I especially love mashed potatoes, Thank you, Mrs. Potts." He answered politely.

"Dane, please," Pepper said glancing over at Dane who was busy cramming his mouth full of mashed potatoes "Take your time, nobody's going to steal them from you."

Dane looked at his mom, his mouth still full of mashed potatoes. He swallowed noisily and grinned up at her, his lips still partially covered with potatoes "I was hungry."

Pepper picked up his napkin and dabbed at his mouth "That's not a reason to act like a pig."

"But Grandma's mashed potatoes are **so** good" he added smiling at his grandmother who laughed quietly at him.

"The kid has a point here, Pepper. These mashed potatoes are **amazing**." Tony added.

Pepper noticed that Edna actually blushed a little at Tony's compliment, and Dane grinned manically at Tony in thanks for his support.

Pepper looked at Tony and rolled her eyes "You're not helping me here, you know that."

Tony gave her his patented charming smile, "Sorry, Pepper."

Pepper shook her head a small smile breaking out on her face, knowing that she would never win any kind of argument with these two in the same room.

Suddenly, Dane broke into their conversation "Why do you call Mommy, 'Pepper'?" he asked Tony point blank.

Pepper and Tony looked at each other awkwardly. Dane turned first to look at his mom, then again at Tony, and finally back at his mom. A long minute of silence passed before Tony finally spoke "Oh, it's a long story buddy, believe me." Tony started smiling at Dane "But just to shorten the story, your mom tried to kill one of my security guards with her pepper spray."

Dane's jaw dropped at the news "Nooooo wwwayyyyyyyy?" he said in disbelief, looking at his mom for confirmation.

Pepper blushed "That's not exactly what happened and you know that Tony," she countered looking at him in a silent challenge.

Tony looked at her with a questioning gaze "It's not, huh? Then what is your version of the story exactly?"

Pepper started counting on her finger "First, I came to your office because YOU made a mistake in accounting,"

Tony cut her off quickly feigning innocence. "I never make mistakes…" he started but Pepper immediately pinned him with a challenging gaze.

"Really? You never make mistakes?!" she asked him, her eyes crinkling with a hidden smile.

Tony quickly looked down at the table not wanting to meet her eyes again. "I mean mistakes in math" he countered.

"Mmmhh" Pepper said still not convinced at all with his answer "You know exactly what I mean, Anthony Edward Stark. You made an error that could have cost millions of dollars for the company." She said turning to look at Dane who was now intensely following the verbal exchange between them.

Tony nodded at that "OK, OK. I admit that there may have been a small accounting error involved,"

Pepper turned her gaze again to Tony "And your big human bear of a bodyguard wouldn't let me in Tony's office so I could show him the error." she continued, sneaking a quick look at Dane's face.

"Yeah, and so you threatened him with your pepper spray! It happened just as I said!" Tony finished victoriously. Even, Edna cracked a smile at his childish tone.

Pepper blushed again, and explained shyly "It was the only way I could get into your office to talk to you, so there was a good reason for my threat."

"Maybe, but it didn't change the fact that you did what you did!" Tony declared happily, turning then to Dane "So, like I was telling you before your mom's interruption," He said winking at Pepper slyly "Your mom threatened my security guard with pepper spray in order to gain access to my office,"

"And what happened next?" Dane quickly asked, now fully engrossed in their story.

"We corrected the error, which by the way was not entirely my fault, and I hired her on the spot" He finished proudly, looking at Pepper with a huge smile on his face.

Pepper smiled back at him remembering that particular moment of her life with amusement, "And it was the best thing I ever did in my life," Tony added softly, now lost in Pepper blue's eyes.

"Then why are you not working together anymore?" Dane asked suddenly bringing both Pepper and Tony back to reality.

Pepper shook her head in order to pull herself back together and answered dryly "A growing divergence of opinion…" she said and then she turned to Dane and carded her fingers quickly through his dark curls "Finish your dinner, honey," she said smiling at him trying her best to change the subject now.

Tony felt his heart break in his chest at Pepper's words as well as her tone, and the feeling got worse when he saw her shift her gaze to Dane, effectively ignoring him. He sadly watched as Pepper and Dane spoke quietly to one another effectively shutting him out of their conversation. As he continued to watch them, he came to the realization that even though they were here, so physically close to him right now, they were emotionally so far away! He sighed and shifted his gaze to Edna's face. He could read a mix of compassion and fatalism in her blue eyes.

"Did you bring a dessert, grandma?" Dane asked loudly with his mouth full of mashed potatoes yet again.

Edna broke eye contact with Tony immediately and looked at Dane, "Sure, honey. How could I possibly deprive you of your favorite dessert in the whole world?" She answered, smiling mischievously at him.

"YES! YOU DID IT!" he almost yelled in happiness at her promise of brownies, his favorite dessert.

Pepper and Edna laughed in the same time as Tony began to feel more and more pushed aside in their conversation.

"Do you really think that Grandma would do something like that to you, sweetheart?" Pepper asked, her body still completely turned towards Dane.

"Because sometimes Grandma is sneaky," Dane replied giggling.

Edna opened her mouth in mock surprise "What?" She said clutching her hand to her chest in a dramatic gesture. "Me? sneaky?"

Dane and Pepper laughed together and it was this moment that Tony chose to stand up with his plate and walk back to his seat near the front of the jet. Dane and Edna were still arguing back and forth on the merits of a sneaky grandma depriving a 4 year old boy of his favorite dessert for no reason at all. Pepper noticed out of the corner of her eye that Tony had gotten up to move away from them.

Her heart suddenly clinched in her chest as he walked dejectedly away from them, but her mind told her that he was right in leaving them! That Tony didn't deserve to be so easily forgiven for what he had done to her five years ago. Then she asked herself if she could ever really forgive him, but still could not find the answer to that question in her heart. She could now see Tony's reflection in the window behind him, and he looked absolutely miserable as he continued to eat, chewing slowly, and gazing sadly at the clouds through the window. Half of her wanted to go to sit next to him and hug him, and her other half was thinking that he deserved to be miserable. So she did the only thing that seemed reasonable to her: she chose to stay in her chair and tried to catch up once again to the conversation that her mom and her son were having as she once again joined her family… _Her real one_…


	16. Chapter 16

_Hello everyone,_

_So finally we didn't reach the 300 reviews yet. Too Bad! Anyway, I post even so. At least, all my dear fellows and reviewers deserve it!_

_I hope you'll like it. I want to thank again and again (cause really she deserves it!) my dear MyCedarChest who is still reviewing for me and correcting all my flaw in English!_

_Thank you again to follow me in this story, and enjoy…_

**Chapter 16:**

Edna had finished cleaning up the table after their meal and had packed away all of their dishes when the voice of the pilot echoed through the cabin.

"We are on final approach to LAX, and with the light air traffic currently in the area, we expect to land within the next few minutes, so please remain in your seat and fasten your seatbelt until we come to a complete stop in our hanger."

Pepper turned her gaze to Tony for the first time since he left the table almost three hours ago. He was still talking to Jarvis, probably planning their arrival at the mansion and making sure that they were still off Shield's radar. Pepper was looking at him closely now, taking advantage of the fact that he was too busy to notice her. For the first time, Pepper noted how tired he looked, his face worn and marked by the stress and the tension of the last 48 hours. She noticed that more white hair than she had remembered was scattered in his dark hair and that the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were a little bit more noticeable. Obviously, the last 5 years had changed him, but then not so much, as he was still the Tony that she knew, _Her_ Tony… _Her_ Tony? But was he still _her_ Tony? She was not sure anymore. And it was exactly when this question crossed her mind that Tony turned his head to look at her. The second his eyes made contact with hers, her heart clinched painfully in her chest when she read the sadness in his brown eyes.

He nodded slowly at her as if trying to reassure her that all was well, thinking that the look on her face was because of the stress of their arrival in California. What he didn't know was that her concerned face was only for him. She was worried for him. He cracked a smile shyly to her and when she couldn't help herself but return it; his smile grew brighter, more hopeful. Then, he focused again on his tablet and continued his conversation with Jarvis. Pepper sighed heavily and turned her head only to find her mother staring intently at her. Pepper gave her a questioning look and Edna just shook her head in disbelief at how her daughter could be so blind to her own feelings as well as Tony's.

"Look, Mommy look!" Dane said excitedly as he was looking through the window at the lights of LA passing quickly below them and becoming larger with each passing second. Dane had just woken up from another nap most likely from the pressure change in his ears.

Pepper turned her attention to him and feigned surprise at the view also just as if it was the first time she had ever seen this view. But inside of her she knew this landscape far too well. She had taken so many times this plane and for many years this view meant that she was 'coming home'. Now, the lights of LA meant only painful memories as she felt her heart beating fast within the large, emotional hole now in her chest.

She reached over and combed her fingers through Dane's hair and finally said "Yeah, it is beautiful, Honey." Dane was smiling up at her like the four year old child that he was, and Pepper was suddenly caught up in Dane's joy. Pepper found herself smiling too, her eyes now full of nostalgia, remembering the time when seeing this view meant that she was returning to their house, the one she shared with Tony...returning to Tony.

Tony, had shifted in his seat and noticed the smile on her face out of the corner of his eye, and he couldn't help himself but smile at the thought that Pepper was now on her way to set foot once again in his mansion… in _their_ house actually...

After the SI jet taxied slowly into the SI hanger and the huge doors closed behind them keeping them out of sight of the rest of the world, Tony stood up and said discretely and quietly to Pepper "OK, according to Jarvis, Fury and his team are still trying to figure out how to get ditch the virus that we implemented, but they are making progress, and it's just a matter of time before they figure it out."

Pepper nodded slowly understanding once again that they were short on time, and started to unfasten Dane from his seat. "OK Honey, here we are." she said as she unbuckled him from his seat belt.

"That was great!" Dane exclaimed, apparently very happy with his first flight. Pepper started to hold out her arms ready for Dane to immediately jump into them, when suddenly Tony reached for Dane and quickly took him into his arms.

"I've got him, Pep, no worries." Tony said quietly to her, brushing shoulders lightly with her as he carried Dane towards the hatch.

"Yeah, flying is pretty cool Buddy, isn't it?" He said as he used his free hand to ruffle Dane's hair.

"Terrific, yes!" Dane confirmed as Tony walked through the hatch and onto the boarding stairs.

Pepper and her mother quickly began to follow them. "They look very good together." Edna said to her daughter.

Pepper looked at her mother in surprise, "Yes, they really do." she said somewhat defensively, not knowing at all where her mother wanted to go with that statement. But Edna continued walking, following Tony and Dane without adding a single word to her statement, suddenly leaving Pepper alone with her thoughts, still standing next to the exit. Pepper was still trying to analyze her mother's change in attitude with Tony in the last 48 hours. She had gone from hating Tony, to encouraging her to tell the truth to Dane about Tony being his father, and finally now to making nice remarks about how Tony and Dane looked good together! Really, Pepper was now lost with respect to her mother's true feelings about everything happening to them. When she finally saw the outline of her mother stepping off of the boarding stairs, she quickly resumed her walk out of the jet.

It took her a little time to adjust her eyes to the harsh, bright lighting in the SI hanger. When she was finally able to focus on where Tony and Dane were walking, she immediately recognized the car and the driver. Her heart started to beat fast and she found herself walking down the stairs as fast as she could. When she finally reached the floor of the hanger, she started almost running to the car, passing up Tony and her mom to quickly stand in front of the driver.

"Happy!" She exclaimed. Happy gave her a bright smile and opened his arms to welcome her. She hugged him saying "It is so nice to see you again. I've missed you."

"It is always a pleasure to see you also, Miss Potts." He answered back formally.

She took a step away and looked up at him challengingly "Come on! Miss Potts?! Really?"

"I'm sorry, I was just teasing. It is really nice to see you too." He said laughing a little. "I've missed you too, Pepper."

Pepper pulled him into another hug and Pepper could have sworn she heard a small sniffle come out of Happy's huge body.

Tony walked up to them slowly, Dane still in his arms "Happy, what have I told you about you hugging Pepper?" he asked half amused, half offended.

"Sorry, boss, matter of habit." Happy said teasingly, pulling Pepper even closer.

Tony grumbled and Pepper pulled back from Happy laughing at the private joke between them. For a few seconds it was like nothing had changed between any of them.

But Happy quickly broke the spell and asked "So, who is this big boy?"

"He is my son," Pepper said looking at Happy with a smile on her face. "And you remember my mother, Edna Potts, of course?" She said looking at her mother.

"For sure, it's always pleasure to see you, Mrs. Potts" Happy said to Edna shaking her hand briskly.

"Nice to see you again too, Happy," Edna answered smiling back at Happy.

Happy then turned his gaze to Dane who smiled to him "You know what young man? You have exactly the same eyes as your mom." Happy said, turning to smile at Pepper. Dane smiled back at him proudly looking over at Pepper. "So what's your name?" Happy finally asked.

"My name is Dane." Dane replied proudly "Dane Anthony Potts!" he finished with an unmistakable Stark dramatic flair.

Upon hearing Dane's full name, Happy let out a small gasp of surprise, his eyes opened widely, rounded like marbles. His gaze shifted rapidly from Dane, to Tony, to Pepper, and finally to Dane again. Happy was not a genius, but Tony would be willing to bet right now that Happy figured out faster than he that Dane was his son.

Happy opened his mouth to comment when Tony said loudly staring at Happy intently "OK, OK, now that the presentations are all done, maybe we could go, because we are playing against the clock here."

Happy took the hint in Tony voice and gaze and turned immediately, walking quickly around to the other side of the car to sit down behind the wheel. Tony came closer to Pepper and gave Dane to her and then he turned to walk back to the back of the limo as the SI ground crew began loading their luggage into the limo's trunk. Dane had his chin tucked into his mother shoulder so he missed the look of relief that passed between his parents. They both knew that they had once again come close to Dane finding out that Tony was his father. And Pepper knew that the more time they spent together the greater the like hood would be that Dane would figure this out on his own. Pepper knew her mom was right. She made up her mind right there and then that she would not wait too much longer before telling Dane.

After a very silent ride to Malibu, the limo finally reached the mansion. Pepper's eyes were wide open, her mouth dry, her hands were almost shaking, and her heart was beating so fast in her chest that she could bet that everyone in the car could hear it. It had been 5 years, 5 long and painful years since she had left this house. The house that she had known for 20 years, where she had used to go every day as Tony's PA for the first 10 years, then where she had lived with Tony for 5 years, and finally the house that she missed so much the last 5 years.

The first tear rolled down on her cheek the second the car passed through the first security gate. Her memory of the last time she saw the mansion had become so painful, and she suddenly felt as miserable as she had when she had left 5 years ago.

Tony who was in the passenger's seat directly across from Pepper, wanted to look at her but was not at all sure he had enough courage to do it. He eventually looked at her and quickly noticed the tears as they fell from her eyes. He wanted to reach out to her and pull her into his lap but he knew he couldn't for fear of upsetting Pepper even more.

She was transfixed in her seat, eyes wide open, silent tears streaming down her face, looking through the window at the mansion as they continued up the driveway. Tony was really worried about her, and he turned his gaze to Dane quickly who was now deep asleep with his head on Pepper's shaking shoulder.

He sighed heavily in regret. So much pain, so much time wasted because he had been too blind to what was happening to Pepper five years ago! He knew that he should have never sent her away from their home and from him. Her sadness was his entire fault and that was killing him! He looked back at Pepper who was now trying her best to wipe the tears away. If it was within his power he would gladly go back in the past and change everything! But he couldn't! So the only thing that he could try now was to fix everything that he had screwed up! But the real question was: How could he fix the past? Just how was he supposed to fix people?


	17. Chapter 17

_Hello my dear fellows,_

_300 reviews! We did it! I mean YOU did it! I still can't believe it. You don't even imagine what it means to me. I put all my heart in this story and it is so nice to see that people appreciate it._

_So here we are for the chapter 17, again and always thank you to MyCedarChest who is still reviewing for me and correcting all my flaw in English!_

_Just to let you know, I'm leaving tomorrow for a business trip of one week in Washington, so I'll maybe not be able to post a new chapter before. I'll do my best to try to write it the night in my hotel room but I can't promise ^^_

_Let me know what you think about the chapter, _

_Enjoy,_

**Chapter 17:**

It was already 3 am when Happy finally parked the limo in Tony's Mansion garage. Dane and Edna were deep asleep in their seats. Tony got out of the car first and quickly turned around the car. Pepper was staring unfocused at Dane when Tony opened her door. She slowly shifted her gaze to him as if almost in a trance. Her eyes were still red from the tears as well as from her overall tiredness and the stress she was under.

"Are you ok?" Tony asked gently, knowing in his heart what the answer would be. He also knew in his heart that she was a strong woman, rarely complaining even under the worst of circumstances.

She nodded slowly and turned her gaze back to Dane again "His sleep cycle is really off today because of the traveling."

"Yes," Tony admitted "Maybe it would be best if we tried not to wake him up. I could just pick him up and put him in bed right now. As sound asleep as he is, he wouldn't even know." He suggested, shifting his gaze between her and Dane.

"mmmmmhhhh" Pepper said mindlessly, the focus once again disappearing from her eyes.

"Which room you want me to put him in?" Tony asked hesitantly, worried about how she was going to react to his question.

Pepper shifted her gaze to him again; her eyes were once more filling with tears. "I don't know…" she whispered, moving her head slowly from right to left as if desperate to seek an answer to his question, "I just don't know anything anymore…" She finished weakly, tears falling down onto her cheeks.

Tony quickly kneeled down in front of her "Hey…" he said slowly reaching towards her face with his hands, "shhhh," he whispered, tenderly wiping the tears from her cheeks. "You are tired, that's it. Everything will be better once you've had some sleep. You'll see." He tried his best to comfort her.

Suddenly, she threw herself into his arms. Her quick movement shocked and surprised him, and he had to move his body quickly to counterbalance so he wouldn't fall back on the floor. He recovered his equilibrium quickly and found himself hugging her back, stroking her hair slowly, as she started to cry on his shoulder. Then he slowly shifted one of his arms under her legs and with a gentle tug, took her out of the car and into his arms in a bridal carry. Once he had stood up with her in his arms, his eyes met Happy's as he was removing the luggage from the trunk of the limo. In that one look, Happy understood Tony and nodded slowly in agreement to his non-vocal question.

Tony started walking slowly towards the elevator, Pepper still in his arms. Her arms had gone around in his neck and back and her face was tucked into the side of his neck as she quietly cried.

They were almost to the elevator when Pepper, still sobbing, tried to pull herself together "Where are we going?" she asked looking back towards the limo. "I need to take care of Dane."

"Not while you are in this state. Happy and your mother are here. They will take care of him, for the time being. Until then you need to focus on taking care of you first." Tony said.

Pepper shook her head and suddenly tried to free herself from Tony embrace. "No, he needs me to put him to bed. I never let him go to bed alone."

Tony put her on the floor slowly, but kept her in place by putting his hand on her shoulder, "Look Pepper, he is deeply asleep anyway. Your mom can just put him to bed. I know she puts him down for a nap every day, so he won't think anything of it. Even, if he does wake up slightly, he will fall back to sleep fast. Now, if you really want to go put him to bed, then go. But if he wakes up and sees you in the shape you're in right now, I'm not sure that he will fall back to sleep so fast. You know how he worries about you." Tony explained patiently to her.

At his words, Pepper looked at her reflection in the elevator door and sighed heavily, knowing exactly what Tony meant. "Ok," she nodded finally.

Tony removed his hand from her shoulder and resumed walking to the elevator. When he reached the elevator, he noticed that Pepper hadn't followed him and quickly turned to find that she was back to the limo, but this time on her mother's side away from where Dane was sleeping. He started walking back to the car and met Happy half way.

"You OK, boss?" Happy asked Tony concern etched on the big man's face. Tony nodded slowly. "Ok, because you look more like the walking dead than a daisy."

Tony smiled slowly at Happy's cynical joke. "The last 48 hours have been a little hard….on all of us." Tony said turning to look at Pepper who was quietly talking to her mom now that she was awake.

Happy nodded sadly, "But you did it, boss!"

Tony turned his head to Happy confused at his words.. "What do you mean?"

"You went back to her. And you brought her back!" Happy said in a serious tone.

Tony sighed, his heart aching again, "I should have never let her go…" he said fatally looking longingly at Pepper.

Happy followed his gaze and watched as Edna was reaching to lift Dane out of his car seat, "Is the little boy your son?" Happy asked without looking at Tony.

"Yes, he is…" Tony answered sadly as Pepper slowly walked to join them.

"My mom will take Dane with her;" Pepper started "They will sleep in her usual room…" She said, then suddenly stopped mid step as if something was wrong. Tony looked at her; waiting for her following words, "I mean, if it is still available…" she corrected herself.

This house had been her home for a long time, so everything seemed natural and familiar but at the same time so very wrong. It was not her home anymore and she didn't want to act like it was.

"Sure, it is. Everything is still the same, Pep'" Tony said somewhat awkwardly with a shrug of his shoulders.

"No, nothing is the same anymore!" Pepper spat out harshly.

Happy felt his blood turning to ice in his veins. That was the first time he had ever heard that tone in Pepper's soft voice. Tony was rooted to his spot, still not used to this tone coming from Pepper even though he had heard it far too many times in the last 48 hours.

The silence around them was now deafening and Happy quickly decided to break it. "OK, I'll go help your mom get set up in her and Dane's room."

Pepper's face softened and she smiled slowly at Happy "Thank you, Happy." She said patting his forearm tenderly. Happy smiled a terse smile back at her and quickly left to meet up with Edna and Dane, leaving Tony and Pepper alone again.

"Do you want me to go with you upstairs?" Tony asked quietly, actually afraid of what her answer would be.

"No, that's not necessary, and if I need anything, then I'm sure I can ask Jarvis for help." She stated coolly.

"Sure, do whatever you want and you can sleep **where **ever you want." He said emphasizing the 'where' as if doing what he could to assure her that she was once again in control of the mansion.

"Don't worry; one of the spare bedrooms will be fine." She shushed him as she started to walk to the elevator, grabbing her rolling suitcase that Happy had left on the floor for her.

Tony wanted to help her to carry it, but he knew already that her answer would be probably a firm 'no'. So, he quickly added "Anyway, it's up to you where you sleep. I'll stay downstairs in the workshop working on our next move."

She didn't even turn to him, she just entered the elevator, and when the door closed, her shoulders quickly sagged in defeat as she starting sobbing again, finally letting everything out, tears streaming their way down her face.

When the elevator finally reached the bedroom level, she was welcome by a familiar and welcome voice. "Welcome Miss Potts. It is a real pleasure to see you once again."

She smiled brightly quickly drying her tears. "Hello Jarvis, you can't even imagine how good it is to hear your voice again." Pepper said sincerely looking up at the security camera mounted in the ceiling of the corridor.

"How can I be of service to you, madam?" Jarvis asked quietly.

"Have been any changes in the mansion that I should be informed of since the last time I was here?" She asked as she started to walk down the corridor towards the guest bedrooms.

"Except for the workshop, everything is just how you left it." Jarvis stated. "Except for Colonel Rhodes, Mr. Hogan, and the housekeeping staff, there have been no humans in the mansion since the day you left.

"Really?" Pepper asked in disbelief.

"Yes, after you left, Mister Stark rarely came upstairs and he never again slept in your and Mr. Stark's bedroom. Unfortunately he has spent most of his time away from the mansion on missions with the Avengers, or down in his workshop." The AI explained.

At Jarvis words, Pepper started to feel miserable. "Where did he sleep or eat?" She asked as she entered one of the spare guest rooms.

"Most of the time, he slept in his suit going to and from Shield missions. He very rarely ate at home. However, I have taken the liberty to restock on food and consumables in preparation for your arrival." Pepper sighed heavily as she put her suitcase on the bed. "If I may, madam, since you left, Mister Stark has chosen to stay away from the mansion as much as possible."

"Yeah, that's exactly why it was so easy for him to get rid of me." She thought out loud as she pulled her nightclothes out of her suitcase.

"I don't wish to contradict you Miss Potts, but I believe you are mistaken about the situation here at the mansion." Jarvis said to her.

"What do you mean Jarvis?" Pepper asked as she walked into the bathroom.

"If I believe what my records of the past 5 years would indicate, all Mister Stark did was to avoid everything that reminded him of you." Pepper was now listening carefully to Jarvis "He spent more and more of his time on missions for Shield in an effort to try to not think about you."

"What makes you think that Jarvis?" Pepper asked as she finished changing into her nightclothes.

"Mister Stark does still talk to himself when he is drunk." Jarvis stated simply.

"Drunk?" Pepper said horrified.

"Yes," Jarvis answered.

Pepper was shocked; she hadn't seen Tony drunk for years. When she thought about it, she hadn't seen him drunk since his birthday party when he was suffering from Palladium poisoning. His habits had changed a lot when they started to date each other; he never drank himself into oblivion anymore. "When did he start drinking again?" Pepper asked as she made her way back into the bedroom again.

"One week, two days and 6 hours after you left the mansion for the last time." Jarvis stated quietly.

Pepper heart clenched in her chest. At this instant, at this second, she just started to understand just how much Tony too had suffered from their separation. She sat on her bed, staring at the wall in front of her. "Did he ever say that he missed me?" she finally let her heart ask the AI.

"Every day." Was Jarvis' unemotional answer to her emotional question.

Pepper shook her head in disbelief "So why did it take him 5 damned years to come back for me?!" she asked out loud.

"I'm not sure, but if I could make a hypothesis, it was probably fear on his part." Jarvis replied quietly.

"Fear?!" Pepper repeated incredulously. "Of what?" she asked.

"Of losing you forever…" Jarvis responded softly.

And the truth finally hit Pepper. For five years, all he had to hang on to was hope. Hope that their relationship was not really done! So here it was that not only was he a damned stupid moron for pushing her away in the first place but he was also a scared stupid moron. Scared to lose her permanently! He had been scared that she would have died if she had stayed with him, but he had also been scared that she somehow would have forgotten him, that she had somehow given up on him.

Pepper slowly laid down the bed and curled herself into a fetal position as she started to sob again. For the first time, in 48 hours, she realized just how hard it had been for him too, that he had been miserable, that he had missed her, that he had thought about her a lot and most of all she realized that for the past five years he had been all alone. At least, she had her mother and Dane to love and keep her company for the past 5 years, but what about Tony? Who did he have? His parents were dead. All he had left was Rhodey, Happy, Jarvis and the bots, but it just wasn't the same as having someone to hold, love, and love you back. After few minutes of crying silently, Pepper finally fell asleep completely drained both physically and emotionally.

In his workshop, Tony was just sitting in his armchair, a single piece of paper in his right hand. This was not just any piece of paper; it was the most important thing in his life for the last 5 years. He knew all the words by heart now, but he still found himself reading it again and again. This piece of paper was the only part of Pepper that she left for him, and reading it had helped him to survive the years since she had left him… And now that he had found her again, the meaning of the words on the piece of paper started to change slowly…


	18. Chapter 18

_Hey my readers, friends, fellow, lovely people!_

_I'm so so so so so sorry for the delay. But as I warned you I went for a week business trip who turned in 12 days business trip plus when I came back a thousand tasks and deadlines to answer… No need to tell you that I went completely crazy! I'm so so sorry and hope it won't happen again. But you really have to know that I have a work who takes a lot of time. But really don't worry I'll never abandon you and this fic because I love them both too much. _

_Anyway, I wrote as soon as I could and as much as I can. I know, it is not a big chapter but believe me when I say that and be ready because the big chapter is to come haha. I'm sure you'll love it. I'm starting to write it by today for you to have it as soon as possible._

_Thank you again to my dear reviewers, you are the best. Your support has no price!_

_Special thanks as usual to my lovely MyCedarChest._

_Thank you again to follow me in this story, and enjoy…_

Chapter 18

Tony had been lost in his thoughts for several hours when the voice of Jarvis broke the silence of the workshop.

"Analysis complete, sir." The AI reported crisply.

It took Tony several seconds to remember exactly what analysis Jarvis was talking about, but it suddenly clicked in his mind, and he stood up and exclaimed "Show me!"

Holographic graphs appeared suddenly in front of him as Jarvis' voice started explaining "According to the simulation, it seems that the substance presence in young Potts' blood comes from a mutation in his genome." DNA sequences in front of Tony highlighted the source of the problem in red for him.

"I see" Tony agreed as he studied the hologram intently "And do you have any idea where this comes from?" Tony asked.

"Of course, sir." Jarvis stated simply, Tony opened his mouth and his eyes went round at this statement. "The mutation comes from you, sir."

"What do you mean, J?" Tony asked, not sure about exactly where Jarvis was heading with his explanation.

"Your last DNA analyses show the same deletion in your DNA sequences," Jarvis patiently explained.

"OK, now I don't follow you anymore Jarvis." Tony said completely lost in what Jarvis was saying. "If I have the same mutation, then firstly why you didn't tell me, secondly why don't I have any presence of this element in my blood, and thirdly, why didn't SHIELD pick up on this when they did their initial analysis?" Tony asked.

"The simple answer is that, this mutation seems to be silent in you, so SHIELD probably didn't even consider it to be a factor." Jarvis stated.

"Silent?" Tony asked in disbelief, "What do you mean by silent?"

"I mean that it doesn't affect you at all. This mutation is present in your DNA but with no effect on you." Jarvis tried to explain.

"Are you implying that the people at SHIELD are idiots J.? 'Cause you were the one that reminded me that they probably have a horde of genomics people working on Dane's case." Tony told him scratching his forehead in frustration.

"I wasn't implying anything, sir. I just wanted to point out to you that these are really small anomalies and that it would be very easy to miss them." Jarvis defended.

"But apparently not hard for you to find them?" Tony challenged back.

"I have been following your genetic profile for years, sir. I am aware of even the smallest changes in you." Jarvis explained.

"So why is it that you never told me about these particular mutations before, Jarvis?" Tony asked suddenly growing annoyed with the AI.

"With the presence of the both the shrapnel and the arc reactor in your body, your body has changed in a multitude of ways. And when I started to point them to you one by one as they occurred you became impatient with me on numerous occasions until at last you ordered me to warn you only if it was really important or some kind of emergency." The AI said almost sarcastically.

Tony recalled the numerous conversations with the AI warning him about possible problems resulting from both the shrapnel contamination and the arc reactor effects on his body, and he suddenly groaned in frustration.

"And this particular mutation was both minor and silent, so I concluded that it was not significant enough to report to you." Jarvis added.

"OK, OK, I get it J." Tony cut him off. "So why isn't this mutation silent in Dane?" Tony asked now very concerned.

"I am not 100% certain, but I believe that this mutation affects one of the endocrine gland genes and the combination of your allele with Miss Potts' allele appears to have an unpredictable effect on the young Dane's body."

"And what could be the repercussions for him?" Tony asked as he sinking down in his seat as he anticipated bad news from Jarvis.

"I can run worst case analysis on my results but, as I have said, the result will be very unpredictable for now." Jarvis concluded.

Tony sighed heavily as he put his head in his hands. He was so focused on his conversation with Jarvis that he didn't hear the person coming up from behind him…


	19. Chapter 19

_Hello everyone ;) _

_Here we are for the new chapter; I did as fast I could. Hope you'll be happy and like it. As I promised, this one is longer and the following one will be also :) Let me know what you think about it._

_Special thanks as usual to my lovely MyCedarChest, because without her, this story wouldn't be the same!_

_ Thank you again to follow me in this story, and enjoy…_

**Chapter 19**

"So, we don't know what to expect at all?" She asked softly.

The voice suddenly coming from behind him made Tony jump to his feet.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you," Pepper apologized.

"Don't be sorry. It's just that I didn't expect to see you up at this time of the night and…" He stopped for a moment, knowing that this was not easy to say, "…here… With me…" he finished with a whisper.

Pepper sighed and stared at her feet for a second in thought, then looked back up at him "I woke up after a bad dream and I couldn't go back to sleep…" She explained pausing for a few seconds and then added softly "You told me that you would be here and I thought I should check on you."

Tony was surprised by the soft tone of her voice. The last time, he talked to her she was upset and mad at him. But right now she didn't seem mad at all and he decided that he would take her as she was, without questioning her change in mood. She was there, just in front of him, reachable, but the only thing he could do was to stay silent and immobile, looking intently at her.

After one long minute of silence, Pepper looked down at her feet again "I'm sorry, I didn't want to disturb you… I'll be going back to my room now." with these quietly spoken words, she started to turn towards the stairs.

When her words penetrated Tony's brain, he quickly started moving in order to catch her "Pepper, wait…" He caught her hand and pulled on her arm gently, causing her to turn around and face him. As their eyes locked, he immediately felt himself drowning in her ocean blue eyes, forgetting for the moment how to even form words as they continued to look at one another.

Pepper slowly let her eyes fall from his eyes to his face and she noticed immediately just how tired, he looked. Then, her gaze drifted down to her hand, still firmly within Tony's hand. He quickly followed her gaze, and immediately let go of her hand, afraid that she would be upset with him for touching her. His sudden movement made her looked up at his face once again.

"You look tired," she said quietly "You should rest, Tony." She then added gently.

The tone that she used with him made Tony's heart warm with undisguised joy. It had been so long time since he had heard such genuine concern in her voice directed at him.

He smiled warmly at her "Only when I am positive that you and Dane will be safe I'll rest, not before."

Pepper smiled back at him and nodded "I know. By the way, I didn't get a chance to thank you for what you are doing for us. I want you to know that I really appreciate all your efforts."

Tony was immediately hurt by her words. To him, it was like she was somehow implying that he was just doing her a favor, and that he hadn't really needed to help her at all. Did she really believe that? Did she really believe that he was not really fully involved in their life now? Dane was his son, and he loved Pepper more than anything else in the world, how could he possibly not help them if they were both in danger.

"You don't have to thank me." he said harshly as his pain pushed to the surface, quickly turning his back to Pepper and once again sitting down at his computer terminal.

Pepper felt as if her heart suddenly broke in two inside her chest at his tone, which she knew was a mix of sadness, anger and distress. After her earlier conversation with Jarvis, her anger with him had weakened a little bit. It was not like she was ready to forgive him, but just now she understood a little bit better about what he had gone through too. She intently watched him as he was moving his fingers rapidly over the holographic keyboard.

"Jarvis, copy this file onto ghost hard drive 36," Tony said as he input the results that his AI had given to him earlier into his newly created formulas.

"At once, Sir." Jarvis replied quietly.

"Oh and start another simulation with a coefficient of 0.6, I want to see the impact of a better efficiency on the possible evolution of the vibranium blood level of Dane." Tony continued to bark out orders to Jarvis.

"Duly noted, sir. Commencing the simulation now. Results are expected in 2 hours and 27 minutes." The AI confirmed.

"Very good, J…" Tony said, and then he sighed heavily still staring at the keyboard.

"I know you are trying your best for us, Tony," Pepper said quietly from behind him.

Tony closed his eyes at the sound of her voice, "You know I'll do you anything and everything for you…and Dane." He whispered in response, not looking at her.

"I know Tony, I know…" she whispered back to him. A long minute of silence passed between them before she broke it, "I'm going back to my room now and you should do the same Tony." She said as she turned towards the stairs.

"I can't…" he said flatly, causing her to stop and turn around to look at him once again.

Pepper was stunned by his admission. She knew from speaking with Jarvis what he meant, but she still couldn't help but asked. "What do you mean, you can't?"

Tony slowly turned away from his computer to look at her; she was now almost half way to the staircase. "I can't…" he started again, "I really can't Pep," he added with a trembling voice.

Pepper immediately turned around and walked back to him, standing once again in front of him, "You shouldn't feel like that. After all it is your room and it is where you're supposed to sleep…"

Tony shook his head "No, it's not **my** room..."

Pepper tried to catch his gaze, but he wouldn't look at her. She then added "Look Tony, listen to me," He slowly turned his head to look at her attentively. "Jarvis told me," she started as Tony gave her a questioning look, "about how you refuse to sleep in your bedroom, staying away from the mansion in your non-stop missions for Shield, refusing to eat or sleep when you were here and your lack of any social life," Then she paused for few seconds and added downheartedly, "But you never seemed to lack alcohol." She finished softly. "Oh, Tony! Why did you start drinking again?"

Tony ducked his head in embarrassment and closed his eyes tightly "It is not really what it looks like." he said sadly.

"Oh?" she said faking surprise "I thought for a moment that you were missing me and that you were trying to forget about me, but if it is not what it looks like, then I just don't know," she said her eyes holding just a hint of tease within them now.

Tony looked at her half shocked, half amused at her attempt at a tease "Ok, forget what I said. It is exactly what it looks like!" he exclaimed, his eyes crinkling with the beginnings of a smile.

Pepper laughed quietly and so did Tony. When they were together like this, teasing each other as they often did, it seemed like suddenly nothing changed between them, almost like the past 5 years hadn't happened. But their moment of bliss passed quickly as Pepper was suddenly brought back into the present.

"You can't live like that anymore, Tony," she started, "It's been 5 years. You have the right to move on." She saw the look on his face as she broke his heart once again. She suddenly realized that no matter what had happened between them, she still cared deeply about him and that the only thing she wanted was helping him "It's not fair for you to keep living in the past. You just can't do that to yourself; what's past is past."

Anger immediately flashed into his bourbon eyes "What the hell is your problem Pepper!" he said raising her voice as he locked eyes with hers.

Pepper took a half step back from him as anger continued to course through his body. He began to pace up and down in front of his desk as he continued to hold her gaze

"What's past is past?! Yeah?! You're kidding me, right?" he said biting the words out at her, as he continued to pace, "Come on! You can say that to your mom, your friends or whoever else, but just don't say that to me please!" he suddenly stopped directly in front of her, his eyes locked with hers "I still can't believe what I heard, I can't believe you are saying that to me! You say you want me to move on. Well then do you really want me to move on? What makes you think that I can move on? I couldn't move on in the last 5 years, and now that I know that I have a son, you really think that I will be able to move on now?" He took a half step towards her. "Pepper, come on! Who are you really trying to convince here?"

Pepper was transfixed on the spot, shocked by his words, suddenly not knowing what to say or do, "I…" she stumbled with her words, "I…"

He quickly closed the distance between them, putting his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them tenderly "Look Pepper, I'll make this easy on you. All you need to do is tell me, right here and now, that you don't love me anymore and that you don't have any feelings for me, and I swear I'll disappear from your life."

She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, her breath heavy and hard, as she lost herself deep within his warm, bourbon eyes. He had just given her an exit door for this whole situation and the easy way out. But the only thing that she could focus on, at the moment, was the feel of his hands on her shoulders, his smell, his eyes, his heat… all Tony…and everything she had always wanted. The tears welled up in her eyes as she whispered "I… I can't…"

Tony cracked a sad smile at her "So don't ask me to move on, **please**." He whispered to her.

One tear fell onto her cheek as she nodded slowly. Tony slid his right hand to her face and gently wiped away the tear. Pepper closed her eyes at the feel of his skin on hers. She felt Tony's left hand reach around to the small of her back as he slowly pulled her into his embrace.

As he hugged her, she could feel his warm breath in her hair, "I love you Pepper, I love you so much" he softly said as he was pressing her against him now enveloping her in his arms, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" he added as his feelings started to overwhelm him and he choked back a sob.

Her hands went to his back automatically, rubbing gentle, soothing circles into his skin through his shirt as she felt her emotions threatening to silence her once again "Oh, Tony…..I love you too..." She whispered.

She felt him tense at her words and then suddenly he started to tremble in her arms. He pulled her even closer to him as his tears began to fall onto her shoulder. She pulled him tightly into her as she continued to rub his back soothingly. She had missed him so, so much. Her bad dream suddenly came back to her mind. She had cried so hard upon waking earlier. Her dream had been about Tony dying trying to protect her and Dane. And that's exactly the reason why she had found herself in his workshop. She had got the need to check on him, to check if everything was alright with him.

In her dream, she had never been able to tell him that she still loved him and Dane had never known that Tony was his father. She felt her own tears fell again at the sad memory of her dream, dream that could easily became true if she had kept on her way toward him. But now, she knew that she was going to make things right between Tony and her. And as she tried to blink away her tears, she knew that it was now the time to make things right between him and Dane too...


	20. Chapter 20

_Hello my dear fellow,_

_OMG! 405 reviews! You are really the best! I don't know what to say to you to make you realize what it means to me. I'm so so so so happy and so grateful to you. You are really the best. I'm so happy that you like this story, I put all my best and my heart in it and it is really nice that you appreciate it._

_So here we are for the chapter 20. I want to thanks MyCedarChest for the reviewing as always and I want to add a special thank for the end of this chapter where she put all her talents to help me to write it J_

_Thank you again to follow me in this story, and enjoy…_

Chapter 20:

"Mommy, mommy!" Dane shouted "Noooooooooo!" he screamed.

He saw his mother fall onto the floor harshly, head first. Dane started to run toward her but was caught mid-stride by two red and gold metallic arms.

"No! Let me go! I have to go help her! Put me on the floor right now!" Dane yelled at the man in the suit who was now holding him.

"You can't Dane, it is too late" the robotic voice told him.

"No, it is not too late! We have to save her!" Dane shouted as he was swiftly carried away from her "You are a hero! You are Iron Man! You are here to save people not to let them die!" He said as he looked back at the body of his mother. He suddenly saw a tall black man walking towards her body and Dane became even more scared "Tony please! We have to go to her now!" he shouted at Iron Man's helmet.

"I'm sorry Dane, we can't go back. She is dead already! I have to save you now!" Tony's voice said sadly as they continued to quickly move away from the body of his mother.

"Noooooooo! I hate you! I hate Iron Man!" Dane shouted still struggling within Iron Man's arms.

Suddenly, Dane opened his eyes to a darkened room. He sat up quickly and realized that he was in a huge bed, completely covered in his own sweat. He took few deep breaths trying to calm himself when he realized that there was someone snoring next to him in bed. As his eyes quickly grew used to the dark, he recognized his grandmother sound asleep in bed with him, but he was still confused as to exactly what bed he was in. After a few seconds of concentration, he remembered the events of last night: the flight on Tony's jet to California, the ride in Tony's limo, and then nothing. His bad dream still haunted him and he really wanted and needed to see his mom right now. He gently removed the covers from the top of him and carefully stood up on his bare feet, wondering just where his shoes had gone. He glanced around the bed not seeing them and quickly decided that he was fine without shoes as he walked slowly and quietly through the room to the door. He opened the door slowly, not wanting to wake his grandmother and carefully pulled the door closed behind him as he walked down the dimly lit hallway. When he approached a set of stairs leading down he paused and he turned his head to the right, then to the left, not really sure at all where to go now. Suddenly a voice quietly spoke to him.

"Good morning, Mister Potts" the voice greeted him softly and cheerfully.

Dane jumped up several inches, suddenly scared to death at the sound of the British voice coming from nowhere "Where are you? Who are you?" he asked with a trembling voice.

"I'm sorry, it was not my intention to startle you" Jarvis apologized swiftly "My name is Jarvis, the AI designed by Mister Stark to control the automated systems of the Stark Malibu mansion." He explained slowly.

At the mention of the name "_Jarvis_", Dane remembered quickly what Tony had told him when they had been at the Potts' farm, two days ago. "Ah yes, Jarvis," Dane replied, quickly calming down "I'm very happy to finally meet you," he said with a smile on his face. "Tony has told me all about you."

"Indeed, sir, but the pleasure is all mine, Mister Potts." Jarvis replied politely.

"Jarvis, I want to see my mom. Can you please help me to find her?" Dane asked the AI.

A few seconds passed in silence at Dane's request. "I'm afraid that Miss Potts is busy at the moment, Mister Potts." Jarvis explained.

Dane was surprised by Jarvis' answer and stared at the ceiling full of incredulity "I'm not sure I understand. Why is it that she can't talk to me right now?" Dane asked knowing that it was not at all like his mom to refuse to talk to him at any time of the day or night.

"I am sorry Mister Potts, but Ms. Potts is currently unavailable." Jarvis answered quietly.

"Unavailable?" Dane repeated in disbelief "In the middle of the night?"

"Regretfully so, Mister Potts." Jarvis answered with his implacable logic.

Dane shook his head and tried to pull himself together. After all Jarvis was a computer, and Dane had been creating computer programs for few months now. He was pretty sure that he could out think Jarvis if he put his mind to it, "Ok, even if she is busy, I'm sure it will be OK for her to talk to her son, just for a few minutes," Dane explained, "Please Jarvis, tell me where she is." Dane politely requested.

"I do apologize, Mister Potts, but parts of the Malibu mansion are restricted. Only Mister Stark can authorize any changes to security clearances. My security protocols are really very strict." Jarvis explained.

Dane started to scratch his head still trying to figure out a way around Jarvis' logic, "Ok, so can you please ask Mister Stark if you can grant me clearance to where my mother is?" Dane asked.

"I do apologize again, Mister Potts, but Mister Stark is also unavailable at the moment and I regret that I cannot interrupt him." Jarvis replied quietly.

Dane shook his head in disbelief at the AI's stubbornness, "Are you kidding me, Jarvis?"

"No sir. My programming would never allow me to do that, Mister Potts" Jarvis said contritely and Dane could almost hear a touch of sarcasm within Jarvis' tone now.

Now becoming slightly irritated, Dane started to walk slowly down the stairs, gripping at the hand rail tightly, "I don't care if you help me or not, Jarvis. I'll find her by myself! This house isn't that big after all!" Dane said in a challenging tone.

"That would be inadvisable, Mister Potts," Jarvis warned.

"But, you can't stop me, are you?!" Dane said as he continued to slowly walk down the stairs "And you know what, if I fall down the stairs and break an arm or a leg, you'll be the one who will have to explain to my mom why you let me go walking down the stairs all alone in the middle of the night!" Dane continued at Jarvis, a smile now appearing at the corner of his mouth anticipating getting the upper hand on the AI.

Suddenly the stairwell lights brightened, fully lighting Dane's pathway down the stairs. "You are without doubt the son of Ms. Potts. Your logic and persuasive techniques are flawless, young Master." Jarvis admitted.

Dane suddenly stopped his descent and his feet froze onto the steps at Jarvis' new name for him. "What did you just call me?" he asked in disbelief.

"Young master." Jarvis stated simply after a few seconds of hesitation.

"Why did you call me that? I am not your master." Dane asked now curious about Jarvis' choice of words.

Jarvis took a little bit more time than usual to answer the question "I'm sorry, Mister Potts, my wording of your title was obviously incorrect,"

Dane stared up at the security camera mounted in the ceiling above the stairwell "Jarvis?"

"Yes, Mister Potts?" the AI answered obediently.

"What are you not telling me?" Dane asked pointedly.

"I can only respond to your questions and concerns as I am allowed to, based upon my programming, Mister Potts. I am incapable of telling a lie." The AI explained.

"Is that true?" Dane asked in surprised "I'm mean, do you always have to tell me the truth when I ask you a question?"

"Yes, except when my security protocols don't allow me to answer you," Jarvis explained patiently.

"Interesting," Dane whispered as he was already figuring out a way to take advantage of Jarvis' inability to tell him a lie. He resumed his walk down the stairs, and as he reached the ground floor he turned towards another security camera. "Jarvis?"

"Yes, Mister Potts?" The AI answered immediately.

"Is my mom is with Mister Stark right now?" Dane asked.

"Yes, she is," Jarvis answered quickly.

A huge smile started to grow on Dane face. "Jarvis, Can you please just tell me where Mister Stark's workshop is located?" Dane asked knowing logically that just he knowing where the workshop was would not directly violate Jarvis' security protocols.

"Yes, Mister Potts, however you will not be allowed access to the workshop without Mr. Stark's authorization," Jarvis explained.

"That's OK, Jarvis, I'll discuss access with Mr. Stark, I just want you to tell me where the workshop is." Dane said still smiling. He knew from his previous conversations with Tony that the only place where Tony was sure to be found in the middle of the night was probably his workshop. And so, by deduction, if his mom was with him, he would found her there with him in the workshop.

"If you will kindly follow my directions, Mr. Potts," the AI started.

Dane followed Jarvis' instruction with a sudden happiness. He was now really quite pleased with himself because he was now sure that he had won the logic battle with the AI. As he was walking slowly through the house, a worried thought began to fill his mind. What was his mom doing with Tony in the middle of the night? Had something bad happened while he was asleep? One confused thought led to another as he continued to follow Jarvis' directions to Tony's workshop. Why did his mom want to be with Tony anyway? Wasn't she supposed to hate him? And the big question remained as just why his mom, grandmother, and he had even come here in the first place?

Dane stopped as he reached another staircase leading to the lower floor. "Jarvis?" he asked suddenly realizing that Jarvis would be able to actually answer some of his questions.

"Yes, Mister Potts?" Jarvis answered.

"Do you know why my mom hates Mister Stark?" Dane asked simply.

"Given the circumstances surrounding your mother's departure from the Malibu mansion five years ago, I can readily understand her feelings of hatred towards Mr. Stark, Mister Potts." Jarvis replied quietly.

"Can you tell me what happen 5 years ago between them?" Dane asked equally quietly.

"Nothing in my programming or protocols expressly forbids me to answer your question. However, I am not at all confident that I should be the one to answer these types of questions for you, Mr. Potts." Jarvis explained patiently.

Dane thought about Jarvis' words for a few seconds and then said "I suppose that nobody else will ever tell me since every time I ask questions like this, everyone either ignores me or just changes the subject. So, go ahead Jarvis, please answer my question."

"As you wish, young Master…"

_During this time, in the workshop,_

Pepper and Tony were still wrapped up in each other's arms, both silently clinging to one another.

"I've missed you so much." She whispered into his neck.

She felt him tense at her words and then he suddenly he started to tremble again in her arms. He pulled her even closer to him as his tears began to fall again onto her shoulder. She pulled him more tightly into her body as she continued to rub his back soothingly.

"Oh Pepper, I missed you too. God, I missed you so much!" Tony said with a trembling voice full of tears, as he continued hugging her hard.

Pepper just started to realize as much as it had been hard for him too and as much miserable he was. She pulled a little away from him in order to see his face clearly, her blue eyes locked with his dark chocolate ones. His face was covered of tears.

"Oh Tony…" She said caressing his cheek, "I'm so sorry," she said, her voice now full of emotion.

"Sorry for what?" He asked in disbelief, quickly trying to blink his tears away.

"I should have called you," she said softly, "I should have known better than to…." she swallowed hard and ducked her head to stare at her feet, suddenly not wanting to continue.

Tony put his index finger under her chin, tilting her head up gently in order to make her look at him once again "Pep, what are you talking about?"

"Sir, you have to know that…" Jarvis suddenly interrupted the couple.

"Jarvis, what the hell!" Tony exclaimed turning to look up at the ceiling, as Pepper took advantage of the sudden distraction to take one step back from him effectively breaking the hold that they had on one other.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, sir, but it is quite important for you to know that the young…" Jarvis started.

Tony quickly cut him short "Jarvis, MUTE!" he yelled as he turned back to find Pepper swiftly walking away from him towards the elevator. He quickly walked over to follow Pepper. "Pepper, where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm going back to my room, Tony…" she said with a trembling voice.

As Tony reached her, he gently tugged on her right arm, making her turned slowly back toward him. He immediately saw that her cheeks were now covered with tears.

"You're not going anywhere," Tony said as he slowly wiped the tears from her face with his fingertips, "I'm never going to let you go away from me ever again." And with that he suddenly pulled her into his arms and crashed his lips upon hers.

Pepper's heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest at the sudden contact of his lips with hers. For the first few seconds, her body felt as if it was paralyzed with the strong emotions his lips had loosed within her. As the kiss continued, she slowly started to recover feeling in her body and she moved her arms to encircle his waist, tenderly gliding her arms up his strong back with her hands finally coming to rest on the back of his neck as she pulled him even closer to her to increase the kiss.

His mouth shifted on hers as he moved his lips to gently suck on her lower lip, knowing just how much she enjoyed him kissing her like that. He had made up his mind that this kiss was going to be the best one that Pepper had ever had in her life. It was a kiss born of desperation, but fueled by passion and love. This was the most important kiss in his life and he was hell bent to make sure that no matter what happened between them in the future, this kiss would be one to be remembered for the rest of their lives. He was thrilled when he first felt her hands on his back and silently rejoiced as he felt them move up to rest at the back of his neck. He immediately deepened the kiss using his tongue to gently beg permission from her to enter her mouth. To his absolute delight, her mouth slowly began to open and he wasted no time in plunging his tongue into her mouth, seeking out her own tongue. He could now taste the mint from her toothpaste, the subtle taste of chocolate no doubt from last night's brownies, and of course, the unique taste that he knew as Pepper herself. A taste that he had missed so much for the last five years and that he was not ready to leave for now.


	21. Apologies

Hello my dear fellows,

I'm so so so so so sorry. I just wanted to post this to explain you what happen. I can't tell you in details what happen because it is really personal but you just have to know that something important occur in my life. It was completely unexpected and not really good :(

In addition to that, I got a lot of work (yeah cauz a problem never happen alone), but at least on the work part, it went good, because it will maybe lead to a promotion.

Anyway, I'm sure you don't care about my life but you care more about the story (and you right because the story is more interesting than my life, believe me haha!). So for that, I promise you that I'm back! I'll start to write the next chapter asap and I promise you that you'll have it in less than 1 week.

Hope, you are not too mad at me and I want to offer you again my apologies...

Jen


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